Early ACC Tournament Exit Leaves Virginia Baseball Squarely on the Bubble for the NCAA Tournament

Originally posted on Virginia Cavaliers on SI
By Aidan Baller | Last updated May 22, 2025 12:28 PM ET

Wednesday night was a night to forget for a few orange and blue teams. On the diamond in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was a late night of mistakes and miscues that led to Virginia baseball falling 12-8 to Boston College in the 2nd Round of the ACC Tournament. A win would’ve almost secured the Hoos into the NCAA Tournament, leaving the Cavaliers on bubble watch headed into the Selection Show on Monday, May 26th.

The game got off to a horrendous start, with Virginia surrendering five runs in the opening inning with a catcher interference call setting the tone for the night on the first at-bat. Despite the brutal start, Eric Becker responded with a two-run shot, showing that the Hoos bats were very much alive.

In the second inning, Brian O’Connor pulled Jay Woolfolk after allowing seven runs in two innings. Of those runs, only four were earned, reflecting the poor defense and errors that plagued the Hoos all night. In the bottom of the second, Eric Becker continued to deliver, driving in Luke Hanson for a score before Henry Ford brought in Aidan Teel.

While the bats looked strong for Virginia, the Eagles continued to make plays as they scored another two runs in the fourth to make it a 9-4 game. Then, in the sixth inning, the Cavaliers made their push for a comeback with a four-run inning, which included a Henry Ford three-run homerun to make it a 9-8 game.

TO THE MOON

Henry Ford puts @UVABaseball within one run!

@accnetwork pic.twitter.com/sMerYaiCrq
— ACC Baseball (@ACCBaseball) May 22, 2025

Yet, despite momentum on their side, the Cavaliers failed to find the final run, with BC scoring three runs in the eighth to seal the deal on the upset victory for the Eagles.

In the ninth, Virginia went 1-2-3 as Boston College defeated the Cavaliers 12-8. They will advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, where they will face North Carolina.

For the Cavaliers, they depart from Durham after only one game where they tied their season-high for errors (5) and unearned runs allowed (5), an absolutely disastrous night for a team firmly seated on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

After the game, Coach Brian O’Connor had this to say regarding why Virginia should be in the NCAA Tournament field, “I don’t know the history past my time here in this league [ACC], but there’s never been a team that’s five games above .500 in the regular season and does not get into the NCAA Tournament.”

To add to O’Connor’s point, no ACC team has missed the NCAA Tournament with a conference record of five games above .500 since Duke in 1994.

O’Connor also cited the RPI boost the Cavs failed to receive due to the Florida State series that was canceled in April due to a shooting on the FSU campus. Since that cancelation, the Hoos finished the regular season with a 12-3 record.

With that said it’ll be interesting to see if the Hoos can sneak into the NCAA Tournament field, which is tentatively scheduled to be announced on Monday at noon.

This article first appeared on Virginia Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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