The Shadow
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 13 Virginia baseball team (26-11, 10-8 ACC) flexed its offensive muscles on Sunday (April 12) by run-ruling the Notre Dame Irish (16-15, 7-11 ACC) 20-5 in eight innings at Frank Eck Stadium.
Virginia scored in all eight innings on Sunday and smashed six home runs on the afternoon. Each of the top four batters in the Virginia lineup left the park in the series-clinching rout.
In relief, Lucas Hartman picked up his team-leading eighth win of the season. The UVA quartet of Eric Becker, AJ Gracia, Joe Tiroly and Harrison Didawick combined to go 12-for-19 with five home runs, two doubles and 16 runs driven in.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Virginia opened the scoring on Sunday in the top of the first when Tiroly doubled home Becker with a ball in the left center gap.
- Notre Dame answered right back in the bottom of the first by taking a 2-1 lead on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to right.
- With one swing of the bat, Gracia put the Cavaliers out front 4-1 on a three-run blast to dead center. The home run was the junior’s 10th of the season.
- An inning later, Tiroly got in on the home run action with a no-doubt solo shot to center field. The dinger was his sixth of the season and put the Cavaliers up 5-1.
- The Irish pulled within a run during the home half of the third with a two-run home run from Jayce Lee.
- UVA blew the contest open with a four-run fourth that was highlighted by a two-run no-doubt rocket down the line in right field from Didawick. The homer was Didawick’s third of the weekend and fifth on the campaign.
- The two squads traded runs in the fifth inning as Virginia kept a five-run advantage at 10-5.
- Jake Weatherspoon drove in Virginia’s 11th run of the contest with an RBI base knock to left field that plated Tiroly.
- Virginia added three more in the seventh, including an Becker two-run blast to put UVA up 14-5 at the stretch.
- To put an exclamation mark on the contest, Virginia plated six more runs in the eighth on a Gracia RBI single, a three-run home run from Becker and a two-run blast on the bat of Griffin Enis.
- Tyler Kapa tossed a scoreless eighth to secure the 20-5 Virginia victory.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- With the series win, UVA moves to 13-13 all-time against Notre Dame.
- The series win is the first for the Cavaliers in South Bend since 2019.
- The 20 runs were the most scored in an ACC game by Virginia since scoring 22 against Boston College in 2025.
- Sunday’s contest was the first time five different Cavaliers homered in the same game since May 8, 2024, against Virginia Tech.
- Harrison Didawick’s home run in the fourth was the 38th of his career and gave him sole possession of second place in the career home run chase.
FROM COACH CHRIS POLLARD:
“Just really proud of our guys. I thought it was really a complete performance and a great response. It was not an easy day for either team to play. It was a tough day to pitch. I thought the way that Jaxel settled the game down and gave our offense a chance to pull away was great. I thought that was a great sign for our offense. We had been hitting a lot of balls hard without having a ton to show for it. Yesterday, we hit 12 balls 95+ off the bat. Our offense metrics have been better than our run production. Today, it all came together. Anytime you can win a series on the road in this league, that’s a good weekend.”
UP NEXT
No. 13 Virginia will close out the four-game road swing on Tuesday (April 14) at VCU. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at The Diamond and will be carried on ESPN+.
