Cavaliers to Face Richmond, Va. Tech, William & Mary

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April 14, 1998

THE SLATE: Virginia (20-16-1 overall, 5-12 ACC) returns home to take on Richmond in a 3:00 p.m. game on Tuesday, Apr. 14. The Cavaliers will then play at Virginia Tech at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 15, and at William & Mary on Thursday, Apr. 16, at 3:00 p.m. Virginia then comes back to Charlottesville, where it plays host to St. John’s in a three-game weekend series on Apr. 18-19. The Cavaliers and the Red Storm will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., followed by a single game at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

THE SERIES RECORDS: The Cavaliers have an all-time record of 63-53-2 against Richmond, but the Spiders own a 3-0-1 advantage over the last four games. Virginia’s last victory in the series was an 8-7 game at Richmond on Apr. 16, 1996. UVa stands 64-64 all-time against Virginia Tech, with the Cavaliers winning the last six meetings. The Hokies’ last victory in the series came on Apr. 20, 1994, when they swept a doubleheader in Blacksburg. Against William & Mary, Virginia has an all-time mark of 58-25-2. The Cavaliers have won the last five meetings in the series, outscoring the Tribe 55-17 in those five contests.

TAKING STATE: Once again this season, the Cavaliers are off to a good start against in-state opponents. UVa has a 6-3-1 mark this season for in-state games, including victories over James Madison, Virginia Tech, VMI, William & Mary and Liberty (twice). Since the beginning of the 1996 season, Virginia now stands 29-9-1 vs. other schools from within the Commonwealth, including a 13-2 mark in 1996 and a 10-4 record in 1997. UVa has posted a 17-5 mark at home against in-state schools during that time, while going 12-4-1 on the road.

ON THE MOUND: Freshman lefthander Greg Withelder (1-2, 6.10 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Cavaliers in the Richmond game on Apr. 14. Junior lefthander Javier Lopez (4-2, 6.55 ERA) will then pitch at Virginia Tech on Apr. 15. In the William & Mary game on Apr. 16, freshman lefthander Brandon Creswell (0-0, 4.09 ERA) is scheduled to start for UVa.

ANDERSON RUNS HITTING STREAK TO 20 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 20-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 27-for-80 (.338) with four doubles, seven homers and 24 RBI, including a solo homer in the sixth inning of last week’s game with Virginia Tech which broke a 3-3 tie and led the Cavaliers to victory. For the season, Anderson is now batting .272 with eight homers and 31 RBI. Anderson’s hitting streak is the longest by a UVa player since 1986, when Bill Narleski had a school-record 36-game streak (including the final 16 games of 1985 and the first 20 games on 1986).

SHERLOCK STAYS HOT: Senior third baseman Brian Sherlock, who has been one of the top offensive threats for the Cavaliers all year, leads the team in batting with a .392 average on the season. He recorded his 18th multi-hit game of the season during last weekend’s series at Maryland, going 3-for-4 in the second game in College Park. In addition to his .392 average on the year, Sherlock leads the team in RBI with 43 and in doubles with 15. At his present pace, he would break the UVa single season records in both those categories. Sherlock is also tied for the team lead in homers with eight, while carrying a slugging percentage of .711 into the week.

ANDERSON BREAKS CAREER HOME RECORD: Senior outfielder E.J. Anderson broke the all-time UVa record for career home runs during the first game of the Clemson series. Anderson hit a three-run homer to right center in the seventh to tie up the game at 7-7, giving him a total of 34 round trippers for his four-year career. He added another homer in last week’s victory over Virginia Tech, bringing his career total to 35. Prior to this season Mike Lindner held the all-time school record, as he hit 33 homers from 1987-90. During Anderson’s four years as a Cavalier, he hit one homer in 1995, 14 in 1996, 12 in 1997 and eight so far this season.

VIRGINIA KEEPS HITTING THE LONG BALL: The home run has been a key part of the Virginia offense over the last few games. The Cavaliers have homered 14 times in the last nine games to raise their season total for homers to 46. At its present pace, Virginia has a chance to break the school record for most home runs in a single season. That mark is currently held by the 1988 squad, which hit 67 long balls.

SHERLOCK KEEPS GETTING ON: While E.J. Anderson has at least one hit in each of the Cavaliers’ last 20 games, Brian Sherlock has quietly built an impressive streak of his own. Sherlock has now reached base via hit or walk in 18 consecutive games. During that 18-game stretch, he has gone 30-for-72 (.417) with 11 walks, nine doubles, three homers and 21 RBI. Sherlock has drawn 29 walks on the year, giving him a team-best on-base percentage of .488. On the season, he has reached base at least once in all but two games (at Georgia Tech on Mar. 7 and against Coppin State on Mar. 17). Both those games were blowouts, with Sherlock leaving each game after only three plate appearances.

GILLELAND RUNS UP RBI TOTAL: 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 the second best average among Virginia’s regulars at .322, while ranking second on the team in runs batted in (32) and tied for third in home runs (seven). During his four year career, Gilleland now has a total of 156 RBI to rank third all-time at UVa. He needs to drive in 11 more runs this season to become the all-time school leader, a mark which is currently held by Bill Narleski (166 RBI / 1984-87).

VIRGINIA DROPS TWO OF THREE GAMES AT MARYLAND: The Cavaliers lost the first two games of their series at Maryland last weekend, before coming back to win the series finale. In the first game the Cavaliers held a 4-2 lead in the middle of the sixth, but the Terrapins scored five runs with only one hit the next two innings to claim a 7-4 victory. The second game was scoreless for five innings, before Maryland put four runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth on its way to a 10-3 win. In the final game, Casey Kennedy struck out five in eight innings while allowing only one run and no walks to lead the Cavaliers to a 9-1 win.

CAVALIERS KNOCK OFF VIRGINIA TECH: Virginia used a pair of home runs to provide all the offense it would need in a 4-3 victory over Virginia Tech last Wednesday. Ryan Gilleland hit a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Cavaliers an early 3-0 lead, then after the Hokies battled back to tie up the game at 3-3, E.J. Anderson hit a solo homer to conclude the scoring. Tommy Keiper picked up the victory in relief, throwing 3-1/3 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit.

VIRGINIA LOSES HEARTBREAKER TO GEORGE MASON: The Cavaliers suffered a tough loss at George Mason last Tuesday, as the Patriots scored three runs on an error in the bottom of the ninth inning to come from behind for a 9-8 victory. Luis Giraldo, Brian Sherlock, E.J. Anderson, Ryan Gilleland and Javier Lopez all had two hits for Virginia, with Gilleland and Josh Bowling both driving in two runs. Brandon Creswell pitched well for the Cavaliers but did not receive a decision, allowing four runs on six hits in seven innings.

CAVALIERS ON THE THE AIR: WINA / 1070 AM, the Home of the Hoos, will carry four Virginia baseball games on radio this season. Former UVa lefthanded pitcher Robby Robinson will handle the play-by-play, while Rob Shaffer will provide color commentary. WINA’s first scheduled broadcast comes this Saturday, Apr. 18, when it will carry the second game of the doubleheader with St. John’s. 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.

IRONMAN GILLELAND PLAYS IN 200TH GAME: Senior Ryan Gilleland, now in his fourth season as a starting infielder for the Cavaliers, played his 200th game in a UVa uniform against Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Gilleland, who has now played in 203 games, is 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 Robinson’s record during the Florida State series.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Cavaliers are once again on their way to having a very successful record at home this season, winning 14 of the 19 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 53-18 at home over the last three seasons.

OUCH, THAT HURTS: Through 37 games this year, sophomore shortstop Tim LaVigne has already broken the school record for most times being hit-by-pitch in a season. LaVigne has been hit 14 times this season, accounting for nearly half of the times a Cavalier batter has been hit all year (30). He broke 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.

THIS YEAR’S FIRST MEETING WITH THE SPIDERS: The Cavaliers played Richmond to an 11-11 tie on Apr. 2, 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.

THIS YEAR’S FIRST MEETING WITH WILLIAM & MARY: The Cavaliers scored at least one run in every inning en route to an 18-4 victory over William & Mary at UVa Field on Mar. 4. The 18 runs marks the most scored by Virginia in a single game in over two years, since a 21-6 victory over Seton Hall on Mar. 3, 1996. Ted Kinsman led the UVa offense by going 5-for-5, while Javier Lopez was 3-for-4 with a homer and five RBI. Kevin Shrout picked up the victory in relief, throwing 2-1/3 innings without allowing a baserunner.

KEIPER SHUTS DOWN TECH: Freshman righthander Tommy Keiper improved his record to 3-0 on the season in last Wednesday’s victory over Virginia Tech. Keiper came out of the bullpen to throw 3-1/3 innings of scoreless relief, while allowing only one hit. This came against a Hokie squad which entered the game with a team batting average of .312. For the season, Keiper has now pitched 21-2/3 innings in 10 appearances. In addition to his 3-0 record, he has a 4.98 ERA and 15 strikeouts.

DOUBLING UP: Through 37 games, the Cavaliers have totaled 77 doubles for an average of 2.08 per game. Leading the way is Brian Sherlock with 15 doubles, while Josh Bowling is not far behind with 13. 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 10 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 second in doubles with 48, while Sherlock is not far behind as he ranks sixth with 44 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.

Record Breakdown

Overall: 20-16-1
Home: 14-5;
Away: 5-10-1;
Neutral: 1-1

Atlantic Coast Conference: 5-12
Home: 3-3;
Away: 2-9

Record vs. Conferences:
vs. Atlantic 10 Conference: 1-0
vs. Big 12 Conference: 1-0
vs. Big East Conference: 3-0
vs. Big South Conference: 2-0
vs. Big Ten Conference: 3-0
vs. Colonial Athletic Association: 2-3-1
vs. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: 1-0
vs. Southern Conference: 1-0
vs. Sunbelt Conference: 0-1
vs. Western Athletic Conference: 1-0

When leading after six innings: 17-3
When leading after seven innings: 19-3
When leading after eight innings: 20-1
When trailing after six innings: 2-9
When trailing after seven innings: 1-12
When trailing after eight innings: 0-14

vs. Righthanded Starting Pitchers: 14-12-1
vs. Lefthanded Starting Pitchers: 6-4

Record by Month:
February: 8-1;
March: 9-10;
April: 3-5-1

Record by Day of Week:
Sunday: 6-3;
Monday: 0-0;
Tuesday: 3-2;
Wednesday: 4-1;
Thursday: 0-0-1;
Friday: 1-5;
Saturday: 6-5

Day Games: 20-13-1;
Night Games: 0-3

When scoring first: 13-6-1
When leading after first inning: 9-2-1
When scoring five runs or more: 17-9-1
When holding opponent to four runs or less: 13-0
One run games: 4-4
Two run games: 2-2
Five-plus run games: 10-4
Extra inning games: 0-0
Come from behind wins: 10
vs. Ranked Teams: 3-4 BA, 3-8 CB, 3-6 USA