Home Softball: Virginia wins at Notre Dame on Sunday, improving to 26-11 in 2024 season
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Softball: Virginia wins at Notre Dame on Sunday, improving to 26-11 in 2024 season

Chris Graham
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Quietly, to the outside world, anyway, the Virginia softball team is putting together a special season.

The ‘Hoos (26-11, 9-6 ACC) closed out a successful road trip to South Bend with a 6-3 win at Notre Dame (22-14, 7-8 ACC) on Sunday.

The win leaves UVA in a tie for fifth in the ACC and a spot at 29 in the D1 RPI after the weekend.

Virginia has had just one record in ACC play in coach Joanna Hardin‘s eight-year tenure, back in 2022, but things are looking good right now at the midpoint to the 2024 season.

“I’m proud of the team for grinding it out to find a way to win. This is a tough league and a tough place to play,” Hardin said after Sunday’s win.

The big hit in the win came from Kelly Ayer, whose two-out, three-run triple broke things open.

Eden Bigham (11-6) got the win in relief, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts through 4.2 innings of work.

Virginia returns home to lead off a five-game homestand on Tuesday when the Cavaliers host Liberty in a 7 p.m. contest at Palmer Park on ACC Network.

The Cavaliers will then continue the homestand with a three-game set against NC State over the weekend.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].