UVA baseball hosts UNC in ACC weekend series

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (21-14, 7-8 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Jr. RHP Connor Jones (5-1, 2.66 ERA)
Sat. – So. LHP Adam Haseley (6-0, 1.42 ERA)
Sun. – Jr. RHP Alec Bettinger (0-4, 4.37 ERA)

NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (24-9, 8-7 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Jr. RHP Zac Gallen (4-2, 1.93 ERA)
Sat. – So. RHP J.B. Bukauskas (5-1, 3.15 ERA)
Sun. – So. RHP Jason Morgan (2-2, 3.54 ERA)

The UVA baseball team plays host to No. 13 North Carolina Friday through Sunday in a three-game ACC series at Davenport Field. The rivals play at 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and Noon Sunday.

 

Broadcast Information

VirginiaSports.com will have the video broadcasts of the Friday and Saturday games as well as an audio broadcast Sunday. WINA 1070-AM and 98.9-FM have the call of all three games. Links to live statistics for the three games also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

 

Things to Know

• Adam Haseley is batting a team-high .381 in ACC games this year, with 24 hits in league play (second among ACC players).
• UVA has surrendered 15 stolen bases this year; UNC has stolen an ACC-best 66 bases.
• Matt Thaiss has five strikeouts in 163 plate appearances this season.
• Ernie Clement reached the 50-hit plateau in 33 games (UVA’s fastest to 50 hits since Phil Gosselin did it in 31 games in 2010).
• UVA is batting .326 with two outs this season.

 

Parking Note

Because of the Luke Bryan concert Saturday night at John Paul Jones Arena, all baseball parking Saturday will be directed to the Emmet-Ivy Garage. There is no charge for parking at EIG.

Free parking Friday and Sunday is available in the University Hall, John Paul Jones Arena and McCue Center lots.

 

Promotions

Weekend – National Championship commemorative cups: with the purchase of a large fountain drink, fans will receive a special cup commemorating the Cavaliers’ 2015 National Championship (available while supplies last at concessions stands behind home plate and at Klöckner Stadium).

Friday – Trading Card Friday (collect a new set of Cavalier trading cards).

Sunday – Washington Nationals Racing Presidents will be in attendance.
Little League Day (for discounted tickets for your Little League team, call the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office by 5 p.m. Friday).
ACC Family Sundays (Family Packages are available and include four (4) general admission tickets and four (4) $8 concessions vouchers, good for any food or drink item at Davenport Field.
After the game, all fans are invited down to the field to get autographs and kids can run the bases.

 

Virginia-North Carolina Series

North Carolina holds a 178-105-4 edge in the all-time series with Virginia. UVA has won seven of the last eight meetings, including a three-game series sweep last year in Chapel Hill to conclude the regular season. Twenty of the last 27 games have been decided by three runs or fewer. UVA has won its last three series against UNC.

 

Reigning ACC Pitchers of Week Square Off Friday

The Friday night probable pitching matchup features UVA’s Connor Jones and UNC’s Zac Gallen. The two shared ACC Pitcher of the Week honors this week after each pitched a shutout last week. Jones fired a one-hitter at Boston College, while Gallen tossed a four-hit, 13-strikeout shutout at home against Virginia Tech.

The two locked up in a great battle in the series opener in 2015, with both allowing just one run while going deep into the game. Jones worked eight innings, while Gallen lasted 8 1/3, with UVA scoring the game-tying run in the ninth inning before pushing across the go-ahead run in the 10th to win, 2-1, en route to a series sweep.

 

Tough Road Ahead

Virginia is entering one of its most challenging portions of the schedule. Thirteen of UVA’s next 17 games feature teams ranked in the top 30 of the latest RPI, including ACC series against UNC (16), Miami (2), Pitt (23) and Georgia Tech (20) and a non-league game at ODU (30). Virginia stands at No. 44 in the latest RPI.

After UVA concludes this homestand, its next eight games will be on the road – UVA’s longest stretch of regular-season true road games since 1999.

 

Noting North Carolina

North Carolina upped its record to 24-9 with a 15-0 shellacking of No. 2 South Carolina Wednesday night in Charlotte. Tyler Ramirez leads the Tar Heels in batting (.395), runs (33), hits (45), homers (7) and RBI (32). UNC is batting .287 and boasts an ACC-low 2.44 team ERA.

 

Up Next

Virginia wraps up its homestand with a pair of midweek games as it takes on Radford (Tuesday) and VCU (Wednesday). Both games start at 6 p.m. at Davenport Field.