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Cavalier Baseball Hosts Clemson
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April 3, 1998
THE SLATE: Virginia (17-11-1 overall, 3-8 ACC) returns home this weekend to play host to Clemson in a three-game series from Apr. 3-5. The Cavaliers and the Tigers will play at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Virginia will then return to the road for a 3:00 p.m. game at George Mason on Tuesday, Apr. 7. It is then back to Charlottesville for the Cavaliers, where they will play Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Apr. 8, at 3:00 p.m.
THE SERIES WITH THE TIGERS: Clemson and Virginia have played 104 times prior to this weekend, with the Tigers leading the all-time series 82-22. Clemson swept the three-game series last season, while the teams split four games 1996. The Cavaliers last victory in the series came during the 1996 ACC Tournament, when Virginia won 4-2. Prior to 1996, the Tigers had won 29 straight in the series, dating back to a 19-1 win by Virginia in 1985. The teams first played on Apr. 7, 1955 at Clemson, with the Tigers posting a 3-2 victory.
ON THE MOUND: Sophomore righthander Casey Kennedy (4-3, 4.99 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Cavaliers against Clemson in the first game of this weekends series on Apr. 3. Junior lefthander Javier Lopez (4-1, 6.09 ERA) will then start against the Tigers in the second game on Apr. 4. In the final game of the series, sophomore righthander Kevin Shrout (4-1, 2.91 ERA) is scheduled to make his first career ACC start for Virginia.
ANDERSON RUNS HITTING STREAK TO 12 GAMES: Senior outfielder E.J. Anderson has been one of the Cavaliers top power hitters throughout his career, but he has also proved to be a tough out over the last few weeks. He is currently on a 12-game hitting streak, the longest of his career, which began in the final game of the Duke series on Mar. 15. During that time he has gone 17-for-48 (.354) with five homers and 17 RBI, including a monster 4-for-4 game with two homers and four RBI at Richmond on Thursday. Andersons hitting streak is also the longest by a Cavalier since Ryan Gilleland had a 12-game hit streak from Mar. 15-Apr. 5 last year. For the season, Anderson is now batting .260 with six homers and 24 RBI.
SHERLOCK STAYS HOT: Senior third baseman Brian Sherlock, who is one of the main reasons for the Cavaliers success this season, has improved his batting average to .402 with some excellent performances over the last few weeks. Sherlocks biggest game came in the 18-5 victory over North Carolina, where he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and five runs batted in. He set a career high for RBI in that game, while tying his career high for hits. Sherlock also put up big numbers against Richmond, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and four runs scored. Over the last 10 games, he has now gone 18-for-39 with eight doubles, two homers and 14 RBI. In addition to his .402 average on the year, Sherlock leads the team in RBI with 36 and doubles with 14, while being tied for the team lead in home runs with seven. Sherlock also carries an impressive .784 slugging percentage into the week, a mark which also leads the team. In addition, he has drawn 26 walks on the year, giving him the best on-base percentage on the squad at .508.
UVA OFFENSE BREAKS OUT: In the second game of the North Carolina series, the Cavaliers exploded for 18 runs. With that total, Virginia scored its most runs in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in almost eight years. The last time Virginia scored 18 or more runs against an ACC foe came on Apr. 28, 1990, when the Cavaliers defeated Maryland 29-10. UVa also scored 12 runs in the final game of the North Carolina series, marking the first time since Apr. 2-3, 1993 that the Cavaliers scored in double figures in back-to-back conference game (Virginia defeated Wake Forest 11-10 and 13-9). In addition, the 30 runs the Cavaliers totaled in the final two games against the Tar Heels are the most by Virginia in back-to-back ACC games since Apr. 27-28, 1990 (UVa downed Maryland 21-19 and 29-10 for a total of 50 runs over two games.
DOUBLING UP: Through 29 games this season, the Cavaliers have totaled 65 doubles, for an average of 2.24 per game. Leading the way is Brian Sherlock with 14 doubles, while Josh Bowling is not far behind with 12. Both players have a chance to break the school single season record of 19, which was set by Ryan Gilleland last season. Gilleland, who has seven doubles so far this year, is also closing in on the UVa career record of 52 doubles, set by Bill Narleski from 1984-87. Gilleland currently ranks fourth in doubles with 45, while Sherlock is not far behind as he ranks sixth with 43 career doubles. If Bowling, Gilleland, Sherlock and company keep hitting doubles at their current rate, the Cavaliers could break the school single season team record for doubles, which is currently held by the 1985 squad with 125.
ANDERSON TIES CAREER HOME RECORD: Senior outfielder E.J. Anderson tied the all-time UVa record for career home runs during Thursdays game at Richmond. Anderson hit a pair of round trippers against the Spiders, giving him a total of 33 for his four-year career. He now stands in a tie with Mike Lindner, who hit 33 homers from 1987-90. During his years as a Cavalier, Anderson hit one homer in 1995, 14 in 1996, 12 in 1997 and six so far this season.
CAVALIERS ON THE THE AIR: WINA / 1070 AM, the Home of the Hoos, will carry four Virginia baseball games on radio this season. Robby Robinson will handle the play-by-play, while Rob Shaffer will provide color commentary. WINAs first scheduled broadcast comes on Saturday, Apr. 18, when it will carry the second game of the doubleheader with St. Johns. The other games which will be carried are the Apr. 22 game against Virginia Tech in Salem, Va., the Apr. 25 contest with Wake Forest and the May. 9 game against Florida State.
GILLELAND KEEPS DRIVING IN RUNS: Senior second baseman Ryan Gilleland, who has been a top run producer for the Cavaliers throughout his UVa career, is having another excellent season. Gilleland has been among Virginias best hitters this year at .313, while ranking second on the team in runs batted in (26) and fourth in home runs (five). During his four year career, Gilleland now has a total of 149 RBI to rank fourth all-time at UVa. He needs to drive in 18 more runs this season to become the all-time school leader, a mark which is currently held by Bill Narleski (166 RBI / 1984-87).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Cavaliers are once again on their way to having a very successful record at home this season, winning 12 of the 15 games they have played thus far at UVa Field. This should come as no surprise, as they have had impressive home records each of the last two seasons. Virginia had a mark of 17-7 at home in 1997, with seven of its 10 ACC victories coming at UVa Field (the Cavaliers went 7-4 in ACC home games). In 1996, the Cavaliers had an overall record of 21-6 at home, including a 7-5 mark against ACC foes. Overall, Virginia now stands 50-16 at home over the last three seasons.
IRONMAN GILLELAND CLOSING IN ON 200TH GAME: Senior Ryan Gilleland, now in his fourth season as a starting infielder for the Cavaliers, will play his 200th game in a UVa uniform during the next week. Entering this weekend, Gilleland has played in 195 career games, starting every time. When he plays in his 200th game, Gilleland will become only the second player in school history to reach that mark. The only other player in school history to have played in 200 games is Adam Robinson, who took part in 219 contests from 1994-97. If Gilleland plays in every game the rest of the season (barring any rain outs), he would break Robinsons record during the Florida State series.
OUCH, THAT HURTS: Through 29 games this year, sophomore shortstop Tim LaVigne has already tied the school record for most times being hit-by-pitch in a season. LaVigne has been hit 12 times this season, accounting for nearly half of the times a Cavalier batter has been hit all year (26). He has tied the UVa single season record of 12, set by Terry Dan in 1972. If he keeps getting hit at his current rate, LaVigne might even break the UVa career record of 20, set by Justin Counts from 1993-96.
KEMMERER COMES ON STRONG: Senior outfielder Jon Kemmerer has taken over as the No. 2 hitter in the UVa batting order over the last few weeks and has responded with some outstanding performances at the plate. Kemmerer, who has started in left field, center field and at designated hitter, has gone 14-for-36 over the Cavaliers last six games with 10 runs scored, eight RBI and five stolen bases. Kemmerer had his biggest game against Richmond on Thursday, when he went 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Prior to Mar. 17, Kemmerer had only 11 hits and three RBI in his entire UVa career.
SHROUT KEEPS ON PITCHING WELL: Sophomore righthander Kevin Shrout, who has seen action both as a starter and in relief, has been one of the Cavaliers top pitchers this season. Shrout picked up a save against North Carolina in his last outing, tossing 2-1/3 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and striking out five. In his previous outing he suffered his first loss of the season against Old Dominion despite pitching well, allowing five earned runs in 6-1/3 innings while striking out eight. For the season, Shrout now stands 4-1 with two saves, a 2.91 earned run average and a team-best 48 strikeouts in 34 innings. During his two year career at Virginia, Shrout has a 3.36 ERA without allowing a home run in 67 innings.
KENNEDY RETURNING TO FORM: Sophomore righthander Casey Kennedy turned in one of his best performances in over a month against North Carolina last Saturday. Kennedy threw six innings against the Tar Heels, allowing only one run on five hits while striking out three before leaving the game with a 14-1 lead. He now appears to be returning to his form of last year, when he ranked second in the ACC with a 2.52 earned run average in conference games. For the season, Kennedy now has a 4-3 record with a 4.99 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 48-2/3 innings.
VIRGINIA AND RICHMOND PLAY TO 11-11 TIE: The Cavaliers played Richmond to an 11-11 tie on Thursday, in a game which was halted after nine innings due to darkness. Virginia held a four run lead early in the game and also had a pair of three run leads later in the contest, but the Spiders came back to tie up the score each time. E.J. Anderson went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBI, while also being intentionally walked twice. Tim LaVigne threw 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to preserve the tie for the Cavaliers.
CAVALIERS FALL TO VCU: Four Virginia Commonwealth pitchers combined to hold Virginia to six hits as the Rams posted a 6-3 victory at UVa Field on Tuesday. Mike Tomes hit a two-run triple in the sixth to key a four-run rally which gave the Rams a 5-3 lead. Ryan Gilleland was the lone bright spot for the Cavalier offense, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
VIRGINIA TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM NORTH CAROLINA: The Cavaliers won their first ACC series of the season, taking two of three games from North Carolina at UVa Field. The Tar Heels won the opener 6-5, as Brian Roberts went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI while Derrick DePriest allowed only one earned run in 7-2/3 innings of relief. Virginia came back to post an 18-5 victory in the second game, with Brian Sherlock going 4-for-5 with two doubles and five RBI and Casey Kennedy allowing only one run over six innings. Virginia won the rubber game 12-7, as Mark Rueffert went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI and Julian Gonzalez hit a three-run double.
LAST YEARS GAMES WITH THE TIGERS: Last season, Virginia was swept on the road by Clemson in a three-game series. The Cavaliers held a 2-0 lead after seven innings in the first game, before the Tigers came back to win 3-2. Casey Kennedy tossed 6-1/3 shutout innings for UVa but did not receive a decision. Clemson won the second game 6-1, then prevailed in the finale 7-3. Brian Sherlock went 6-for-10 in the series.
SCHEDULE CHANGES: Please note that the game at Radford, scheduled for Mar. 3, was postponed due to the weather. The game will be made up on Monday, Apr. 20, at 3:00 p.m. The third game at Georgia Tech, scheduled for Mar. 8, has been cancelled. Those are currently the only changes to the schedule listed in the Virginia baseball media guide.