No. 9 Virginia heads to No. 8 Louisville for three-game ACC series

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (16-6, 4-2 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Jr. RHP Connor Jones (4-0, 1.56 ERA)
Sat. – Fr. LHP Daniel Lynch (1-1, 5.23 ERA)
Sun. – So. RHP Tommy Doyle (1-2, 4.65 ERA)

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (17-4, 4-2 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Sr. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (2-1, 4.40 ERA)
Sat. – So. LHP Brendan McKay (4-1, 1.09 ERA)
Sun. – Jr. LHP Drew Harrington (4-1, 1.74 ERA)

The No. 9 Virginia baseball team makes its first-ever trip to Louisville this weekend (Friday through Sunday) as it takes on the No. 8 Cardinals at Jim Patterson Stadium. Game 1 of the series is set for 6 p.m. Friday. The teams also are scheduled to play at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

 

Broadcast Information

ESPN3 will carry all three games. WINA 1070-AM and 98.9-FM and VirginiaSports.com will have the UVA radio broadcasts Saturday and Sunday. A link to live statistics for the three games also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

 

Cavaliers in the Rankings

9 – Baseball America, 11 – NCBWA, 12 – USA Today Coaches, 16 – D1Baseball

 

Things to Know

• The series at UofL marks the first three games of seven on a synthetic surface this year. UVA was 7-3 on turf last year.
• UVA (94) and UofL (92) have struck out the fewest times among ACC teams.
• Ernie Clement (36) and Adam Haseley (35) rank first and third, respectively, in hits among ACC players.
• UVA has allowed only five stolen bases (in 11 attempts this season). Louisville leads the ACC in stolen bases.
• Virginia has started at least three freshmen in every game this year.

 

Virginia-Louisville Series

Virginia and Louisville played for the first time last season in the Cardinals’ inaugural season in the ACC, with UofL sweeping a three-game series in Charlottesville. This weekend series marks Virginia’s first-ever baseball games in the state of Kentucky.

 

Road Challenges Loom

Beginning with the Louisville series, 15 of UVA’s remaining 26 games heading into finals break are on the road. This includes ACC road series at UofL, Boston College, Miami and Pitt. UVA has played 22 games thus far – 16 at home, four on the road and two at neutral sites.

 

Offense Producing Through 22 Games

Virginia’s offense has started the season strong, batting .326 through 22 games (second in ACC to Georgia Tech, .329). UVA has a league-high 256 hits and is third in the ACC with 52 doubles. UVA had 10 doubles in its series with Wake Forest.

UVA has scored at least four runs in 20 of its 22 games this season, including five of six in ACC play. The Cavaliers also are batting .342 as a team with two outs.

 

Noting Louisville

Louisville boasts a 17-4 record following a 9-4 win at Purdue on Wednesday night. The Cardinals are 4-2 in league play after dropping two of three at Miami last weekend. The unanimous favorite to win the ACC in 2016, Louisville boasts the lowest ERA in the league with a 2.31 mark as opposing batters are hitting just .184 against Cardinal pitchers. UofL also is among the top hitting teams in the conference with a .326 batting average (tied with UVA for second in league).

 

Up Next

Virginia returns home to Davenport Field next week to play Old Dominion (Tuesday) and No. 13 NC State (Friday through Sunday).