Virginia baseball delivered a dominant performance in their regular-season home finale, routing Richmond 18-6 in eight innings Tuesday night at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers (34-18) showcased their offensive firepower in front of a home crowd, ensuring a memorable send-off for the season's final game in Charlottesville.
The Spiders struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the opening inning on a Virginia throwing error. But the Cavaliers responded with authority, plating six unanswered runs to seize control. The surge began with a dropped third strike, followed by a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and a two-run single from Thomas O'Connell, giving Virginia a 4-1 edge after just one frame.
AJ Gracia extended the lead to 6-1 in the second inning with a towering two-run home run—his team-leading 14th of the season. Richmond briefly trimmed the deficit to 6-3 in the third on a two-run double from Trevor Dosenbach, but Virginia's offense was far from finished.
The Cavaliers broke the game wide open in the fourth inning, erupting for six runs. Antonio Perrotta crushed a two-run homer, and RJ Holmes added a two-run double to push the lead to 12-3. Richmond answered with three runs in the fifth on Dosenbach's solo home run, making it 12-6, but Virginia's bullpen shut the door from there.
Relievers Noah Yoder and Lucas Hartman combined for three scoreless innings to seal the win. Hartman earned his 10th victory of the season, working 1 2/3 innings in relief. Offensively, Harrison Didawick starred, going 3-for-6 with a double and four RBIs. He capped the scoring with an RBI double in the seventh and a bases-clearing triple in the eighth to finalize the 18-6 rout.
The victory marked Virginia's 21st win in the last 22 meetings against Richmond, improving the all-time series record to 91-60-2. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a stellar 23-8 home record and an impressive 156-45 mark at Disharoon Park since 2021. With a 17-7 record in their last 24 games, Virginia heads into postseason play riding a wave of momentum.