The No. 8 UVA baseball team heads to Arlington, Va., on Tuesday afternoon to take on George Washington in a midweek contest. Game time is 3 p.m. at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park as UVA makes its first trip to northern Virginia since the 2004 season.
Broadcast Information
Links to a live audio broadcast and live statistics are available on VirginiaSports.com.
Things To Know
• Four Cavaliers hail from northern Virginia: Alec Bettinger (Woodbridge), Tommy Doyle (Vienna), Nate Eikhoff (Bristow) and Hughes Page (Alexandria).
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring (10.5 runs/game and runs (126).
• Ernie Clement owns a career-best 17-game hit streak dating to the 2016 ACC Tournament.
• Jake McCarthy leads the ACC and is tied for first nationally with 10 stolen bases.
• UVA is playing one of its four scheduled games on FieldTurf (3-game series at Virginia Tech).
• UVA has walked 22 more times than it has struck out (54/32).
Cavaliers Visit George Washington
Virginia is 23-13 all-time against George Washington and has won seven straight matchups since a defeat in 2008. The last 12 meetings have been played at Davenport Field in Charlottesville.
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor is 11-1 against GW. UVA is taking on GW on the road for the first time since April 30, 1996, a 3-0 victory in Front Royal and is playing at Barcroft Park for the first time. Virginia last played in Northern Virginia in 2004 when it trekked to George Mason.
Digging the Long Ball
Virginia already has hit 15 home runs, the most homers through 12 games in the Brian O’Connor era. The Cavaliers did not hit their 15th homer last year until April 5 (30th game). Adam Haseley has a team-high five long balls – each to the opposite field. Seven Cavaliers have gone yard this year.
Running Wild
Virginia stole eight more bases last weekend and now is 21-for-23 in base thievery this year. Jake McCarthy already has a team-high 10 steals this year, more than any Cavalier had in the entire 2016 season (Ernie Clement led team with six). McCarthy is tied with two others for the national lead in stolen bases. UVA stole 27 bases last year, its fewest during the Brian O’Connor era.
Hot Bats to Start the Season
Virginia ranks second nationally in scoring (10.5/game) and runs (126). Only New Mexico State (155 runs, 11.1/game) has averaged more. Virginia scored at least seven runs in each of its first eight games for the second time in program history (1897).
UVA’s six starters who have started each game are all batting at least .362, led by Robbie Coman (.435, eighth in ACC), Adam Haseley (.417, 10th in ACC) and Cameron Simmons (.405, 13th in ACC).
Simmons Has Big Weekend
Cameron Simmons was a constant presence on the basepaths in UVA’s four games last weekend. He reached base safely in 12 of his 15 plate appearances (6 hits, 6 walks). Simmons was 6-for-9 with a triple and three RBI. He already has walked 10 times this year – more than his entire total in 2016 (8). Simmons leads the team in OBP (.560) this year.
Noting George Washington
GW dropped two of three games last weekend at VMI. Freshman Nate Fassnacht is GW’s top hitter with a team-best .375 batting average, while Joey Bartosic has a 10-game hitting streak. GW owns a .254 team batting average and a 5.43 team ERA.
Up Next
Virginia opens ACC play this weekend (March 10-12) at No. 13 North Carolina.
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Chris Graham
