The No. 10 Virginia baseball team lost to the Pitt Panthers by a score of 7-3 on April 26 at Charles L. Cost Field.
The result matters as it marks a weekend sweep for Pitt and affects Virginia’s standing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with both teams competing for postseason positioning.
Pitt took an early lead with four runs before Virginia scored its first run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. The Panthers responded with three more runs in their half of the fourth, putting them ahead 7-1. Virginia managed to add single runs in the sixth and ninth innings but could not close the gap further. John Paone started for Virginia and was charged with the loss after allowing four runs over several innings. RJ Holmes led Cavaliers hitters by going two-for-four with one run batted in, while Joe Tiroly and Zach Jackson each hit doubles.
Despite being swept this weekend, Virginia still leads the all-time series against Pitt, holding a record of 28 wins to Pitt’s 12. This sweep is notable as it is the first time since Notre Dame did so in 2023 that an ACC team has swept Virginia on its home field during a three-game series. Sam Harris extended his streak of reaching base safely to eleven consecutive games after recording a single in Sunday’s contest.
Head coach Chris Pollard said: “Credit to Pitt, they played really well and they are a really good team. That is a bunch of veteran guys playing with a bunch of confidence right now and I have a lot of respect for coach Bell, he has done a great job with their club. I just told our guys at the end that I don’t have any qualms, any problems, with the effort or the energy or the connectiveness, guys picking each other up. We just have to play better. We have to play ourselves to the other side of this. We know we are a better club than we showed this weekend. We showed that in large stretches and in a big sample size over the course of this season and we are going to play better. We’re going home to regroup and we have to get some guys going a little bit offensively and we will. We showed some good signs in the ninth and there is a lot better baseball for this group ahead of us. If they stay connected and committed to each other like they are right now, they are going to look up at the end of May and like where they are at.”
Looking ahead, No. 10 Virginia will return home for its longest homestand of the season starting Tuesday against George Mason.
