Injuries to Bella Cabral and Kassidy Hudson are going to be a challenge for UVA Softball, which has lost five of its last six in ACC play.
The ’Hoos (33-8, 10-7 ACC) dropped the rubber game in a three-game series at Palmer Park to in-state rival Virginia Tech (36-6, 11-4 ACC) by a 5-0 final on Sunday.
Virginia took Game 1 on Friday, 4-3, powered by a three-run homer from Alex Call (.218 BA/.726 OPS, 5 HRs, 20 RBIs).
Tech evened the series on Saturday, 5-2, behind Bree Carrico (11-0, 1.32 ERA, 1.02 WHIP), who allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits, striking out five and walking four.
In Game 3, the Hokies seized control with a four-spot in the top of the third, capitalizing on a throwing error by UVA starting pitcher Julia Cuozzo (5-3, 2.61 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) on a comebacker to the mound with the bases loaded and one down.
That opened the floodgates for four unearned runs for Tech, who cruised behind Emma Mazzarone (10-3, 2.49 ERA, 1.33 WHIP).
Mazzarone held the UVA offense to three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts through 5.0 innings of work.
I’m still trying to track down the status of Cabral (.411 BA/.1373 OPS, 10 HRs, 37 RBIs) and Hudson (.269 BA/.742 OPS, 1 HR, 18 RBIs) going forward.
“There are a lot of positives to take away from the weekend. I thought our pitching staff was excellent against a very powerful offense. We kept everything in the park and gave up minimal earned runs over the three-game stretch, so I thought they attacked really well,” UVA coach Joanna Hardin said.
“Overall, I’m really proud of the fight, but disappointed with the outcome, so it’s important that we see all the growth and positive opportunities we can take away. We faced two really elite arms this weekend, and every inning we played prepares us for a postseason run. I’m grateful we get to go back to work on Monday,” Hardin said.
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Chris Graham
