Game Notes: No. 3 seed UVA begins ACC Baseball Tournament Thursday

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (36-18)
Probable Starting Rotation
Thu. – Jr. RHP Connor Jones (11-1, 2.05 ERA)
Fri. – Jr. RHP Alec Bettinger (2-4, 5.08 ERA)
Sat. – So. LHP Adam Haseley (8-3, 1.73 ERA)

ACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Pool B – No. 3 Seed
Louisville (2), Clemson (6), Duke (7), Wake Forest (10)
Pool A
Miami (1), Florida State (4), NC State (5), Boston College (8), Georgia Tech (9)

The No. 7-ranked UVA baseball team opens play in the ACC Baseball Championship at 11 a.m. Thursday when it takes on No. 12 Clemson in pool play at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. The Cavaliers are the No. 3 seed in the field, while Clemson (38-18) is the No. 6 seed.

UVA also will battle No. 10 seed Wake Forest at 3 p.m. Friday and No. 2 seed Louisville at 7 p.m. Saturday in pool play. The winners of each pool will play for the league championship at noon Sunday.

 

Broadcast Information

The ACC’s Regional Sports Networks (Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic) will televise all games in pool play, while ESPN2 will air the championship game. The radio broadcasts for all postseason games will air on WINA 1070-AM and 98.9-FM and also will stream on VirginiaSports.com via a Cavaliers Live subscription. A link to live statistics also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

 

Things to Know

• Brian O’Connor is 25-6 against Clemson.
• Matt Thaiss is currently riding a career-best 13-game hit streak.
• With 83 hits, Ernie Clement had the most hits in a regular season by a UVA player since Phil Gosselin recorded 85 in 2010.
• UVA had a 3.88 ERA in ACC play (fourth in conference).
• UVA has struck out the fewest times of any ACC team (265).
• UVA hit .325 as a team in its two ACC series following the finals break.

 

UVA at the ACC Baseball Championship

Virginia has won three ACC tournament titles (1996, 2009, 2011), all in Durham at Durham Bulls Athletic Park (most of any school). UVA now has played in each of the 43 ACC tournaments.

Virginia is 55-70 all-time at the ACC Baseball Championship and 17-13 in tournament games in Durham. Under Brian O’Connor (since 2004), Virginia is 24-17 in the tournament. The Cavaliers are 8-8 all-time as the No. 3 seed and have been a top-four seed in nine of O’Connor’s 13 seasons.

 

Cavaliers Against Pool Opponents

Virginia went 5-4 this season against the other members of its pool, but has not played Clemson since the 2014 regular season.

UVA’s all-time, 2016 and ACC tourney history against its pool opponents:
Opponent – All-Time / 2016 / ACC Tourney History (Last Mtg.)
Clemson – 53-103 / 0-0 / 8-10 (5/24/12, UVA 3-2)
Wake Forest – 80-87 / 2-1 @ UVA / 7-6 (5/25/11, UVA 13-1 in 7 inn.)
Louisville – 1-5 / 1-2 @ UL / First Meeting

 

O’Connor Matches UVA Wins Record

Brian O’Connor scored his 594th win as Virginia’s head coach on Saturday, tying Dennis Womack (1981-2003) for the UVA career record. O’Connor already holds the UVA record for career ACC wins (244).

O’Connor also holds 24 career ACC tournament wins, one behind Womack for most in program history. At 24-17, O’Connor’s .585 ACC tourney win percentage is fourth best in league history. UVA recorded its 13th straight .500-or-better ACC record under O’Connor.

 

Four Cavaliers Earn All-ACC Honors

A quartet of Cavaliers earned spots on the 2016 All-ACC Team, with each earning his first such honor. Connor Jones was a first-team pick at starting pitcher. Matt Thaiss (catcher) and Pavin Smith (first base) were second-team selections, while Ernie Clement (second base) was a third-team honoree.

 

Up Next

The NCAA tournament opens next week (June 3-6). The 16 regional host sites will be announced via the NCAA’s social media at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, while the field of 64 will be unveiled at noon Monday on ESPNU.