The Virginia baseball team rocketed out of the gates this season and remained in contention to host the first weekend of NCAA Tournament play into May. When the draw was announced, however, UVA found itself on the road in the Greenville Regional with host East Carolina.

The Cavaliers’ closing stretch likely determined their fate. They finished the season 6-7 in their final 13 games, including a 5-5 mark after the exam break. They lost 2 out of 3 games in the final regular season series at Louisville and then dropped both games at the ACC Tournament too, leaving them with 5 losses in the last 7 games.

Still, Virginia grabbed a No. 2 seed in Greenville, a one step improvement from a No. 3 in 2021. The Hoos posted 38-17 record entering the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season after a brief hiatus from the field prior to the pandemic. A No. 2 seed is the equivalent of a top 8 seed in the March Madness basketball brackets and a solid accomplishment for the program.

“I think it came down to the last couple of weeks and we didn’t do it,” UVA coach Brian O’Connor said. “That said, it’s not a failure. Here we are a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hosting a regional is really, really hard thing to do. You’ve got to be consistent throughout the season, one, or you’ve just got to be extremely hot the last four weeks like East Carolina and North Carolina have done. We’ve had a tremendous year.”

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