It was the third inning. On what would have been a routine force-out at home with the bases loaded, junior pitcher Julia Cuozzo fielded a bounce in the circle but lost control of a toss to redshirt freshman catcher Reagan Hickey — in the time it took to recover the errant ball, the cleats of two Hokies touched home plate.
That play epitomized the afternoon for the Cavaliers and delivered the first two runs of a 5-0 loss to the Hokies, marking their 15th series defeat in a row to the in-state rival. No. 21 Virginia (33-8, 10-7 ACC) remains without a series victory against No. 12 Virginia Tech (36-6, 11-4 ACC) at Palmer Park.
Defensively, there were miscues aplenty in what was a chaotic day in the field for Virginia. The Cavaliers committed multiple errors and had additional positioning issues. In the fourth inning, a line drive down the third-base line proved too high for the outstretched glove of freshman infielder Hannah Tober. With a runner incoming from second, senior infielder Jade Hylton and senior pitcher Eden Bigham — who entered the game for Cuozzo in the third — both ran to cover the unoccupied base, resulting in a failed tag…