The No. 23 Virginia baseball team swept a Sunday doubleheader against Radford at Disharoon Park on May 3, winning the first game 11-1 and the second game 14-5.
The sweep marks an important moment for Virginia, as it improves their all-time record against Radford to 24-4-1 and extends their winning streak over the Highlanders to six games. The Cavaliers have now swept two of three doubleheaders played this season, both at home.
In the opening game, Kyle Johnson earned his first win in a Virginia uniform by allowing only one run on three hits over five innings with five strikeouts. Joe Tiroly led the offense across both games, going a combined 5-for-9 with seven runs batted in and three extra-base hits. Harrison Didawick contributed five RBIs during the doubleheader.
Virginia’s offense was highlighted by hitting five home runs in game one, bringing their season total to 82—just one behind last year’s mark for second-most in program history. Didawick’s home run was his forty-first as a Cavalier; he needs seven more to tie Jake Gelof’s school record of forty-eight career homers heading into the final seven regular-season games.
Despite committing six errors in game two—the most since recording seven against Miami in 2004—Virginia rallied from behind in both contests for their sixteenth and seventeenth come-from-behind wins this season. Out of the bullpen, Noah Yoder, Christian Lucarelli, and Lucas Hartman each threw a scoreless inning to close out game two.
Head coach Chris Pollard said: “Not just 25 runs over 16 innings, but it was against a team that pitched to a five ERA all year. Radford has struggled at times to score runs, but they have thrown the ball well. We saw their best arms today. We didn’t come out of the gates with a great offensive approach, but I loved the way that we were able to shift the offensive approach over the course of game one and continue it in game two.”
Looking ahead, Virginia will return to Atlantic Coast Conference play on Friday (May 8) for senior weekend series action against California.
