Game Notes: #21 UVA faces ODU in Tuesday matinee

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (26-17, 11-10 ACC)
Probable Starting Pitcher
So. LHP Bennett Sousa (3-0, 7.08 ERA)

OLD DOMINION MONARCHS (25-15, 8-10 C-USA)
Probable Starting Pitcher
Jr. LHP Joey Benitez (1-0, 4.34 ERA)

The No. 21 UVA baseball team heads to Norfolk on Tuesday for a noon contest against Old Dominion. The game will be played at Harbor Park, home of the Norfolk Tides, the triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

 

Broadcast Information

A live audio broadcast can be accessed on VirginiaSports.com via a Cavaliers Live subscription. A link to live statistics also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

 

Things to Know

• Virginia continues an eight-game road trip, its longest regular-season swing since 1999.
• UVA has four Virginia Beach-area natives on its roster (Charlie Cody, Connor Eason, Connor Jones, Evan Sperling).
• UVA is No. 29 in the latest RPI (ODU is No. 56), with ACC series remaining vs. No. 33 Pitt and No. 22 Georgia Tech.
• Over the last 10 games, Daniel Pinero is batting .379 (11-29, 7 RBI) and Nate Eikhoff is hitting .370 (10-27, 9 RBI).
• Ernie Clement has reached base in 14 straight games.

 

Virginia-ODU Series

Old Dominion leads the series with UVA, 33-26-2, and has won four straight games against the Cavaliers. ODU rallied to defeat UVA, 4-3, on March 30 in Charlottesville.

The Monarchs have won back-to-back games over Virginia at Harbor Park, 14-5 in 2014 and 3-1 last year. UVA’s last win in Norfolk was May 16, 2006, an 11-10 victory on ODU’s campus.

 

Virginia Against In-State Rivals

UVA is 5-3 this season against in-state opponents. Since 2004, the Cavaliers have a 116-27-1 record against in-state foes. Including Tuesday, UVA has five games remaining against Virginia opponents, including a three-game series with Virginia Tech to close the regular season.

 

Noting the Miami Series

• Virginia won its seventh straight series against the Hurricanes, matching UVA’s longest current streak against an ACC opponent (Clemson).
• Miami led in only four innings in the series (sixth through ninth Saturday).
• Twelve of Virginia’s 15 runs came with two outs.
• UVA got contributions up and down the lineup, while its typical top four in the order (Haseley, Clement, Thaiss, Smith) went 8-for-47 (.170).
• Justin Novak (4-9) and Daniel Pinero (4-10) led UVA in hits.
• UVA’s starting rotation allowed five earned runs in 20 innings in three straight quality starts.

 

Noting Old Dominion

ODU dropped two of three games over the weekend in a Conference USA series at Louisiana Tech. Connor Myers leads the team in batting at .329; he had two hits in ODU’s win against UVA earlier this season. The Monarchs are batting .255 as a team. ODU is fielding at a .969 clip and owns a 4.56 team ERA.

 

Up Next

Virginia continues its road trip Saturday and Sunday at Pitt. The teams will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Saturday start time was changed today from the originally-scheduled 3 p.m. start. The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday.