#1 UVa. baseball travels to Pitt for ACC weekend series

Virginia Cavaliers (25-4, 10-2 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – So. LHP Nathan Kirby (5-1, 1.24 ERA)
Sat. – So. RHP Josh Sborz (3-1, 2.78 ERA)
Sun. – So. LHP Brandon Waddell (3-1, 3.76 ERA)

Pittsburgh Panthers (15-13, 7-5 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Sr. RHP Rhys Aldenhoven (2-1, 3.79 ERA)
Sat. – Sr. RHP Joseph Harvey (2-1, 2.79 ERA)
Sun. – Sr. RHP Matt Wotherspoon (3-3, 6.81 ERA)

The top-ranked UVa. baseball heads north this weekend for a three-game conference series with ACC newcomer Pittsburgh at Charles L. Cost Field. The series consists of 3 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday as well as a 1 p.m. Sunday contest.

Broadcast Information
ESPN3 will have live video broadcasts of all three contests. wina 1070-AM and WINA.com will air the radio broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday, while live audio broadcasts will be available for all three games through a Cavaliers Live subscription on VirginiaSports.com.

Live statistics (GameTracker) also will be located on VirginiaSports.com. The audio and live stats also can be accessed through the Virginia Sports app, which is available through iTunes.

Virginia in the Latest National Rankings
USA Today Coaches, NCBWA – 1
Baseball America, Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball – 3

Wahoos Look to Extend Win Streak
Virginia enters the weekend with a season-long eight-game winning streak. UVa has won 15 of its last 16 games and ranks second nationally in wins – Louisiana-Lafayette leads all Division I teams with 27 victories.

Virginia-Pitt Series
Virginia and Pitt are playing for the first time as ACC rivals and the first time overall since March 24, 1981. UVa owns a 5-1 edge in the series, but the schools have played only one time since 1966.

UVa and Pitt played in Charlottesville in 1981. Records from both UVa and Pitt do not indicate where the first five games were contested.

First Trip to Pennsylvania in Over a Decade
UVa is making its first trip to the state of Pennsylvania since May 15, 2002, when the Cavaliers visited State College to face Penn State. On that day, UVa split a doubleheader with the Nittany Lions.

PA Natives Line UVa Roster
Virginia’s roster features seven natives of the state of Pennsylvania. It marks the second-most UVa players from any state (Virginia, 10).

UVa’s Pennsylvania natives: Robert Bennie (Stroudsburg), Adam Bleday (Titusville), Derek Fisher (Rexmont), John La Prise (Exton), Joe McCarthy (Scranton), Mike Papi (Tunkhannock), David Rosenberger (Bethlehem).

Ponderings on Pitt
Pitt is 15-13 this season, but owns a 7-5 record in the ACC and currently stands in a third-place tie in the Coastal Division after sweeping Duke and Georgia Tech in consecutive home series over the past two weeks. The Panthers were handed their first home loss of the season on Tuesday with a 6-3 defeat to West Virginia; the setback snapped Pitt’s 18-game home win streak, which dated to the 2013 season.

Behind a senior-laden weekend rotation, Pitt has a 4.34 team ERA. Dylan Wolsonovich leads the team in batting at .300, while Stephen Vranka is batting .293. The Panthers are batting .273 overall but have a .280 average in league play, which ranks second among ACC teams. Pitt also is fielding at a .959 clip.

Up Next
Virginia travels to James Madison Tuesday for a 6 p.m. contest (please note the time change from the original schedule). UVa returns home next Friday through Sunday (April 11-13) for a three-game conference series with No. 15 Clemson.