The story of UVA’s season – walks and sloppy defense – eliminated the ‘Hoos from title contention at the 2015 ACC Baseball Championship in an 8-2 loss to Notre Dame on Friday in Durham, N.C.
Virginia (34-21) lost for the second straight game in the ACC Tournament. The Cavs had lost 9-5 to Miami on Wednesday.
There seemed to be a bit of a hangover effect from that first-game loss, which saw UVA blow a 5-2 eighth-inning lead to the Hurricanes. Starting pitcher Brandon Waddell (3-5) struggled from the outset, walking in a run in the first, then giving up a pair of unearned runs in the third on a throwing error by catcher Robbie Coman, who missed badly on a throw to first base after Waddell had struck out Lane Richards for what would have been the third out of the inning.
That gave the Irish (36-20) a 3-0 lead. A Matt Thaiss two-run double in the bottom of the third narrowed the gap to 3-2, but Notre Dame got a run back in the fourth on an RBI double by Kyle Fiala, then added two more in the sixth on a two-RBI triple by Cavan Biggio.
That chased Waddell, who was charged with six runs, four earned, on seven hits in six-plus innings, striking out nine and walking five.
Virginia pitchers walked eight Notre Dame batters on the day.
The ‘Hoos managed just six hits on the day. Notre Dame starter Ryan Smoyer (9-0) earned the win, giving up two runs on four hits in six innings of work.
Virginia concludes its appearance in the ACC Tournament Saturday night at 7 p.m. with a game against N.C. State.
For all intents and purposes, the focus shifts to Monday, when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. Virginia, with an RPI at 20 entering play on Friday, is a likely two seed in the tournament, which gets underway next week.
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Chris Graham
