UVA Softball: ‘Hoos close Mizuno Classic at Palmer Park with pair of shutout wins

Virginia closed out a 5-0 weekend at the Mizuno Classic on Saturday with shutout wins over Ohio State and Delaware.

In the opener, #21 UVA defeated Ohio State 8-0 in a five-inning run-rule win behind Eden Bigham (5-0), who picked up the win in relief, working the final 3.1 innings, striking out two and allowing one hit.

Game 2 was a 5-0 win over Delaware, with Julia Cuozzo (1-1) picking up the win, allowing two hits with four walks and six strikeouts through 4.1 innings of work in the start.

Courtney Layne closed out the final 2.2 innings, allowing one hit with a walk and three strikeouts.

Player notes

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• Macee Eaton went 4-for-6 on the day with four RBIs to bring her season total to 22.
  • Eaton, Reagan Hickey and Bella Cabral all homered on the day to give UVA 18 home runs on the year.
  • Eaton has a team-leading five home runs on the season, while Hickey has four home runs.
  • Virginia has now posted five shutouts this season and scored at least five runs in nine of 13 games.

Postgame: UVA coach Joanna Hardin

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“The pitching staff has been phenomenal. Taylor Smith opened up Game 1 and kept us in there attacking the zone. Eden Bigham brought it home. Julia got extended in her start (against Delaware), and it’s the longest outing she’s had to open for us, and then Courtney Layne was phenomenal coming in. They complement each other very well.

“Offensively, we’re seeing it really well, taking great pitches, seeing it in the zone and getting off good swings on the pitches we’re looking for. The discipline at the plate lends itself to scoring runs throughout the whole game. I’m really proud of that. We’re playing really well together right now. As we get closer to conference play, we need to continue the momentum and mentally stay prepared and locked in. It’s a long season.”