With his family watching from the bleachers, John Bivens strolled up to the batter’s box with his adrenaline racing.

Franco Valdes was taken back by the encouraging words. Mired in a miserable slump at the plate and a relative unknown at the time, Virginia’s catcher heard encouragement from a smattering of fans fighting early-season chills in March at Davenport Stadium.

Despite being on a strict pitch count around 35, the junior tossed three scoreless innings with two strikeouts to help propel No. 16 Virginia to a 9-1 victory over Georgetown at Davenport Field in a game prolonged by a rain delay.