Entering Virginia’s game against Longwood, Grant Donahue had pitched just five innings total all season. He posted a 7.20 ERA during those appearances and had not entered a game since early March.
But UVa needed something out of him on Tuesday. With a depleted starting rotation, a slew of unreliable arms in a banged-up bullpen and five games in six days upcoming, Donahue absolutely had to come through.
And he delivered a performance as if it came from out of nowhere. He pitched five spotless innings, allowing just one hit in an otherwise near-perfect performance. That, combined with some early Virginia offense, translated into a much-needed 6-0 Wahoo win over Longwood.
“I knew I did have to perform out there, but it was more along the lines of going out there to do the best that I could to help our bullpen withstand these next five games,” said Donahue. “That’s really all I had on my mind.”
It’d been a bad stretch for the Cavaliers. They scored three runs in three games while being swept by Miami, the first ACC sweep of UVa (14-10) in three years. They’re down two outfielders, two relievers and now a starting pitcher, all due to injuries. It’s unfair to label Tuesday’s game a must-win, but losing to a 6-16 Longwood team wouldn’t have inspired much hope.
UVa scored its first two runs via the infield. The first was an infield RBI single from Caleb Knight. Then, Nate Eikhoff had a sacrifice bunt with a runner on third and one out. With UVa’s offense struggling as much as it did in Miami, this was as good an indicator as any that the offense needed a spark, manufactured or otherwise.
“We need action,” said head coach Brian O’Connor. “We need to do some things to create some things, and put pressure on other teams, and not take it for granted. Until you start to get back into the flow of things, you do things like that to get runs on the board.”
Jack Weiller, who has been on the roster for three years, started his first game on Sunday, following nearly two full years of battling hip injuries. He picked up his first hit on Tuesday in the second inning. Charlie Cody had two hits, and six starters recorded a hit. It was a needed outburst for a team that was offensively starved over the weekend.
“It’s been a pretty long road,” Weiller said. “… Today was great because I was able to help the team on the field.”
The Virginia pitching, though, was strong. After Donahue came out, it was new Sunday starter Bobby Nicholson getting some midweek work after a rough outing against Miami. The former St. Anne’s-Belfield standout pitched three innings of relief and allowed zero runs. Then Mack Meyer came in to finish the job in the ninth inning.
As a whole, UVa allowed just one hit. It was the Cavaliers’ third shutout this season and the sixth time allowing one run or less.
“Today,” Nicholson said, “it felt good to get back out there and try to get back that confidence that is so important for every pitcher.”
This game won’t help UVa’s NCAA Tournament hopes. It won’t improve its early season ACC woes, which could put the Cavaliers on the brink of missing the conference tournament. It won’t improve Virginia’s RPI, which currently sits at 131. But it might turn the tide on what has been a really frustrating stretch.
There’s four more games left on the schedule this week. First it’s VCU at The Diamond on Wednesday night, then a road series at Pittsburgh. But with inclement weather looming early in the day on Tuesday, with rain, wind and cold all a factor, O’Connor was monitoring the forecast.
He wanted to make sure this game would get in, knowing its importance in the grand scheme of the team’s mentality, more than anything else.
“I looked at it, I thought [the rain] would be out of here at some point this afternoon, but I wanted to do everything that we could to play,” O’Connor said. “Get that taste out of our mouths after this weekend and get back out on the field.”