VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (30-19, 12-15 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Thu. – So. RHP Connor Jones (5-2, 3.31 ERA)
Fri. – Jr. LHP Brandon Waddell (2-4, 4.88 ERA)
Sat. – TBA
NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (32-19, 13-13 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Thu. – So. RHP Zac Gallen (3-3, 3.00 ERA)
Fri. – Fr. RHP J.B. Bukauskas (4-2, 3.70 ERA)
Sat. – Sr. RHP Benton Moss (7-0, 3.17 ERA)
The UVA baseball team completes the regular season Thursday through Saturday with a three-game ACC series at North Carolina. Play begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill and continues at 6:30 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday.
Broadcast Information
The Thursday game will air on the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks (Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in the Charlottesville area). The Friday game will stream online on ESPN3, while the Saturday contest will air on ESPNU. Live audio broadcasts are available for all three games through a Cavaliers Live subscription on VirginiaSports.com. A link to live statistics also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.
WINA 1070-AM and WINA.com will have the live local radio broadcast. The Saturday game will air across select stations on the Virginia Sports Radio Network:
Richmond – WRNL 910 AM
Charlottesville – WINA 1070 AM
Martinsville – WHEE 1370 AM
Staunton – WTON 94.3 FM
Mt. Jackson – WSVG 790 AM
Odds and Ends
• UVa is No. 31 in the latest NCAA RPI, while UNC is No. 20.
• Prior to Tuesday, UVa’s starting pitchers were 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA in the previous nine games.
• UVa catchers have thrown out 41.2 percent of potenial base stealers (second in ACC to GT).
• 10 of UVa’s 14 runs in the Duke series came after two were out.
• UVa played 21 home games this year (fewest since 1984).
• UVa ranks seventh in the ACC in batting (.273) and ERA (3.56) and sixth in fielding (.970).
Virginia-North Carolina Series
North Carolina holds a 177-103-4 edge in the all-time series with Virginia. Nineteen of the last 24 games have been decided by three runs or fewer, including each of the three contests last year in Charlottesville and UVa’s ACC tournament win over the Tar Heels. UVa has won two of three games in the regular-season series in each of the last two years, including in 2013 in the regular-season finale in Chapel Hill. This marks the first time both programs have been unranked for their regular-season series since May 2003.
Cavaliers Look to Clinch ACC Tourney Bid
Virginia sits 10th overall in the ACC heading into the final weekend of conference play. The top 10 teams in the league advance to the ACC tournament, which runs May 19-24 in Durham. UVa’s magic number to clinch an ACC tournament berth is two.
The Cavaliers are one game ahead of Wake Forest and 2 1/2 ahead of Boston College going into the final three games. In case of a tie in the final standings, UVa holds the tiebreaker over the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest plays at Duke this weekend.
UVa is 1 1/2 games behind UNC and Clemson, which are tied for sixth place.
Noting UNC
After getting swept at Notre Dame last weekend in ACC play, North Carolina rebounded with a 7-2 win over UNC Wilmington Tuesday in Chapel Hill. Brian Miller leads the team in batting at .311, while Landon Lassiter is hitting .303. UNC ranks eighth in the ACC in batting at .268, sixth in ERA at 3.47 and fourth in fielding at .970. The Tar Heels have been exceptional on the defensive end in ACC play with a .983 mark in conference play.
Up Next
The ACC Baseball Championship begins Tuesday with the play-in games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. The No. 7 seed takes on the No. 10 seed at 11 a.m., and the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds play at 3 p.m. The winners advance into the pool-play bracket, which runs Wednesday through Saturday. The championship game will be played Sunday, May 24.
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Chris Graham
