UVA baseball: ‘Hoos travel to Raleigh for key ACC series with N.C. State

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (26-15, 9-12 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – So. RHP Connor Jones (4-2, 3.49 ERA)
Sat. – Jr. LHP Brandon Waddell (2-4, 5.20 ERA)
Sun. – TBA

NC STATE WOLFPACK (21-17, 9-11 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – So. RHP Cory Wilder (2-5, 2.96 ERA)
Sat. – Fr. LHP Brian Brown (3-2, 2.38 ERA)
Sun. – TBA

The UVA baseball team travels to NC State this weekend for a three-game ACC series at Doak Field at Dail Park. The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and conclude the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Broadcast Information
Live video broadcasts are available for all three games through ESPN3. VirginiaSports.com will have a live audio broadcast throughout the series. The broadcasts are available through a Cavaliers Live subscription on VirginiaSports.com. Live statistics (GameTracker) also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

WINA 1070-AM will have the live local radio broadcast of all three games. The Saturday game will air across select stations on the Virginia Sports Radio Network:

Charlottesville – WINA 1070 AM
Staunton – WTON 94.3 FM
Martinsville – WMVA 1450

Virginia in the Latest National Rankings
NCBWA – 19
USA Today Coaches – 20

Odds and Ends
• UVa is No. 32 in the latest NCAA RPI for 2015 (NC State is No. 65).
• Nine of Virginia’s 15 losses have come by two runs or fewer, including six by one run.
• Josh Sborz is first in the ACC and sixth nationally with 12 saves this season.
• Robbie Coman was 7-for-12 (.583) in the Miami series and is 15-for-37 (.405) in the nine games since taking a grounder to the face and missing the JMU game on April 8.
• Coman is batting a team-leading .317 in ACC games this year.
• Kenny Towns has three homers and 12 RBI in UVa’s last 10 games.
• UVa has used 23 different lineups in its 41 games this season.

Virginia-NC State Series
NC State holds a 112-71-1 edge in the all-time series against Virginia. The teams did not play last season. UVa swept the Wolfpack March 23 and 24, 2013, in Charlottesville in the teams’ last series.

The Wolfpack won two of three games last year against the Cavaliers in Raleigh in 2012, and UVa continues to look for its first-ever three-game series win at NC State.

No current UVa player has seen playing time at NC State. Kenny Towns and Thomas Woodruff are the lone Cavaliers who were on the roster in 2012.

Noting NC State
NC State ranks third in the ACC in batting (.283) and fourth in ERA (3.18). The Wolfpack returns home after dropping two of three games last weekend at Notre Dame and falling, 6-5, on a walk-off hit in the ninth inning at East Carolina Tuesday. Currently on a 21-game hit streak, Logan Ratledge ranks second in the ACC in batting at .384. Preston Palmeiro is batting .361 (fifth in ACC). Friday starter Cory Wilder boasts a 2.96 ERA and has limited opponents to a .148 batting average (second lowest among ACC pitchers).

Up Next
Virginia plays Old Dominion at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Norfolk, Va., at Harbor Park, home of the triple-A Norfolk Tides. The contest is UVa’s final game before a nine-day break for final exams.