Virginia Baseball: All-ACC Catcher Jacob Ference to Return for 2025 Season

Second-Team All-ACC catcher Jacob Ference announced that he will be using his final year of eligibility to return to UVA baseball in 2025.

Jacob Ference and Evan Blanco during the Virginia baseball game vs. North Carolina at the 2024 College World Series in Omaha. / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia baseball got some great news for its prospects for the 2025 season on Saturday as All-ACC catcher Jacob Ference announced on social media that he will be using his final year of eligibility and returning to UVA next year.

"Committing to the University of Virginia has proven to be one of the best decisions of my life," Ference said in the post. "The 2024 season offered me the opportunity to reach heights that I had never dreamed of on a baseball diamond - both individually and collectively with my teammates. I am proud of the work and accomplishments of the 2024 Virginia baseball team, with that being said, we left meat on the bone. For that reason, I'm excited to announce that I am returning to the University of Virginia next year in pursuit of a national championship. Let's go Hoos!"

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— Jacob Ference (@ference_jacob) June 22, 2024

A graduate transfer from Salisbury, where he helped the Sea Gulls win the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2021 and reach the finals in 2022, Ference showed that the leap to one of the top programs in Division I college baseball was not at all too much for him.

Though he was initially brought in as a second option at catcher behind expected starter Ethan Anderson, Ference proved to be indispensable both as a catcher and as a batter and wound up starting 39 games at catcher and 14 more as UVA's designated hitter, appearing in 54 of the team's 63 total games. Ference ranked third on the team in batting average (.350), tied for fifth in hits (70), seventh in RBI (43), tied for second in home runs (17), and sixth in runs scored (55). He was just as good defensively, if not better, posting a .994 fielding percentage with just two errors committed and six passed balls allowed all season and registered 312 putouts on 342 chances.

Ference earned a well-deserved nod on the All-ACC Second Team, one of a program-record nine Cavaliers to earn All-ACC honors this season. As the season awards continue to roll out as the 2024 college baseball season winds to a close, Ference is likely to earn even more accolades.

There are still many questions to be answered as to what the Virginia baseball roster will look like in 2025, especially with the MLB Draft just a few weeks away, but Brian O'Connor and the Cavaliers can at the very least rely on stability, production, and leadership behind the plate as Jacob Ference confirms that he will be using his final year of eligibility to return to UVA next season.