Streaking Virginia, winners of nine of its last 10, gets a chance to see where it is with # 7 N.C. State coming to town for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday at Disharoon Park.
The ‘Hoos (10-3) own a win over #15 Oklahoma, in the teams’ season opener back on Feb. 14, but that W, and the recent success against admittedly weak non-conference opponents in the ongoing lengthy homestand, hasn’t been enough to generate anything in the way of national buzz.
N.C. State (12-0) owns recent wins over Iowa, Purdue and Minnesota, and a 24-7 run-rule laugher over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers will open on Friday with ace Griff McGarry (3-0, 1.12 ERA), who faces Pack righty Reid Johnston (0-0, 3.48 ERA), with a 4 p.m. first pitch.
Saturday’s game might be a fun watch for fans who can get to the area early in advance of the UVA-Louisville hoops contest across the street at JPJ.
Virginia will send out right-hander Mike Vasil (2-0, 2.25 ERA) to face Wolfpack lefty Nick Swiney (3-0, 0.86 ERA), whose video game-like statline has him with 37 strikeouts against four walks in 21 innings in 2020.
First pitch on Saturday is at 1 p.m. The hoops game tips off at 4.
As a nice touch from the folks at Virginia Athletics, fans with a ticket to the basketball game will receive free admission to the baseball game.
Sunday is a 3 p.m. first pitch pitting UVA lefty Nate Savino (0-0, 4.05 ERA) against Pack lefty David Harrison (2-0, 0.57 ERA).
The nice touch for Sunday: at the conclusion of the game, fans can go on the field for postgame autographs, and kids 12 and under can run the bases.
Parking
FRIDAY: Eight (8) bays in JPJ South lot (formerly U-Hall lot) will be held for first-come, first-served baseball/softball patrons. Overflow parking is also available first-come, first-served in JPJ West/Garage/East Lots.
SATURDAY: Due to the 4 p.m. men’s basketball game, parking for baseball/softball patrons will be at Emmet/Ivy Garage only. A fan shuttle will begin running at noon with two pick up/drop off points – one at the bus stop outside Emmett/Ivy Garage and one at the bus stop on Copeley Road across from the Disharoon Park/Palmer Park ticket booth. The shuttle will run until both the baseball and softball games conclude and both venues are empty of spectators.
SUNDAY: Parking for baseball/softball patrons will be available in JPJ South Lot (formerly U-Hall Lot) with no vacate time. Due to the 6pm Roadshow event at JPJ Arena, JPJ West/Garage/East will have a 3pm vacate time. Emmett/Ivy Garage is also available with no vacate time.
Game Coverage
All games including Friday and Saturday’s ACCNX broadcasts are available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. In addition, all three games can be heard locally on WINA 1070 AM/98.9 FM and anywhere on WINA.com. Links for the live stream, audio broadcasts and in-game live stats are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the Virginia baseball official twitter account (@UVABaseball) for in-game updates.
UVA Baseball News and Notes
From Game Notes – Courtesy Virginia Athletics
- Virginia has scored 115 runs this season, the most in the ACC and the ninth most in the country.
- The Cavalier offense has totaled 10 or more runs in six of the last eight games, including a 20-run outburst against Dartmouth on Feb. 28.
- Virginia has racked up 10 or more hits in four of the last five games.
- The Cavaliers have hit 15 home runs through the first 13 games, the second most in O’Connor’s tenure (2017 – 16 HRs). The 15 home runs are third most in the ACC and 16th most in the nation.
- The Virginia pitching staff has struck out 152 batters this season, the sixth-most in the country.
- Opponents are batting .097 off Friday starter Griff McGarry, the second-lowest in the league.
- Both McGarry and Saturday starter Mike Vasil have set single-game strikeout highs this season – McGarry, 12 strikeouts vs. Dartmouth and Vasil 10 strikeouts vs. Bucknell. The duo is responsible for all three of the staff’s quality starts this season.
- Out of the bullpen, graduate transfer Stephen Schoch is tied for second in the ACC and eighth in the country with four saves. He has appeared in eight games this season and struck out 20 batters in 10.2 innings pitched.
- With a combined 12 appearances, Andrew Abbott and Kyle Whitten have yet to surrender an earned run. Abbott is tied for the team lead with three wins and Whitten has a team-best three bullpen holds to his credit.
- Logan Michaels and Marc Lebruex have hit safely in a team-high six-straight games. Michaels set new single-game career bests in hits (4), doubles (2) and RBI (4) against Richmond on Tuesday night.
- Freshman Max Cotier tripled for the third time this season in Tuesday’s win over Richmond. The three triples are the most in the ACC and tied for the second most in the country. Two of the three came against Dartmouth last Saturday becoming the first Cavalier since Adam Haseley in 2016 to triple twice in a game.
Story by Chris Graham
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