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Feb. 11, 2004
SEASON-OPENER: Virginia is set to begin its 2004 season with a three-game non-conference series against North Carolina A&T on February 13-15 in Greensboro, N.C. UVa and NC A&T will be meeting for the first time since the 2002 season. Game one of the three-games series is scheduled for Friday, February 13th at 2:00 PM, game two is scheduled for Saturday, February 14th at noon and game three is scheduled for Sunday, February 15th at noon. All three games will be played at War Memorial Stadium. North Carolina A&T enters the weekend series with a record of 0-2 after dropping a pair of game to Wofford last weekend.
LAST TIME THEY MET: Virginia and North Carolina A&T last met on March 11, 2002 in Greensboro, N.C. in a non-conference game. UVa defeated NC A&T in that contest by the score of 25-1 at War Memorial Stadium.
Brian O’Connor ERA BEGINS: When Virginia takes the field in its season-opener against North Carolina A&T, it will mark the UVa debut of first-year head coach Brian O’Connor. O’Connor came to UVa after spending the last nine seasons on the University of Notre Dame baseball staff.
TRI-CAPTAINS: The fourth-year trio of Joe Koshansky, Paul Gillispie and Alan Zimmerer will serve as captains for the Cavaliers in 2004. Koshansky is slated to be UVa’s starting first baseman/starting pitcher, Gillispie will be battling for a spot in left field and as the designated hitter, while Zimmerer is expected to be one of Virginia’s top pitcher out of the bullpen.
PRESEASON PUB: Virginia’s Joe Koshansky, Andrew Dobies, Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Street and Tom Hagan have gathered some preseason publicity from several baseball sources prior to the start of the 2004 season. Koshansky was named to CollegeBaseballInsider.com’s Preseason All-American Team as an Honorable Mention selection and was also named to SEBaseball.com’s All-ACC Preseason First Team. Dobies was listed in Baseball America’s College Preview as having the “Best Breaking Ball” in the ACC. Zimmerman and Street were named an Honorable Mention choice on SEBaseball.com’s All-ACC Preseason Team while Hagan was tabbed as a “player to look out for” in SEBaseball.com’s All-ACC Preseason Team listings.
RETURNING WITH HONORS: Joe Koshansky returns to Virginia for his fourth season after racking up numerous postseason awards in 2003 as a junior. Last season, Koshansky was named First Team All-ACC, selected to the ACC All-Tournament Team and was named to CollegeBaseballInsider.com’s All-America Team as an Honorable Mention choice. He was also named to the Virginia College Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State Team as an Honorable Mention selection.
CAVALIERS TO TANGLE WITH TOP-25: Virginia is scheduled to face six teams ranked in Baseball America’s Preseason Top-25 in 2004. UVa will face preseason #3 Miami, #5 Georgia Tech, #11 Clemson, #15 North Carolina, #22 Florida State and #25 N.C. State. With the exception of Miami, all of the ranked teams UVa will face in the preseason poll are conference foes. Miami will still be an Independent in baseball in 2004, however, the Hurricanes will soon be joining the ACC and will be a conference member in baseball next season.
VIRGINIA PICKED SEVENTH IN ACC PRESEASON POLL: The University of Virginia baseball team was picked to finish seventh in the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. UVa received a total of 28 points in the poll to finish in front of both the Duke Blue Devils and the Maryland Terrapins. The ACC’s nine head coaches selected the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as the top pick to win the conference championship in 2004 with six first place votes and a total of 77 points in the poll.
2004 ACC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll:
Place School Points 2003 Record/Finish1. Georgia Tech (6) 77 44-18, 17-7 ACC2. Florida State (1) 61 54-13-1, 19-5 ACC3. Clemson (1) 60 39-22, 15-9 ACC4. North Carolina 58 42-23, 13-11 ACC5. N.C. State 52 45-18, 15-9 ACC6. Wake Forest (1) 36 29-24, 8-15 ACC7. VIRGINIA 28 29-25, 11-12 ACC8. Duke 17 18-36, 2-21 ACC9. Maryland 16 20-33, 6-17 ACC
CAVALIERS SEEK FIRST SEASON-OPENING WIN SINCE 2002: Virginia will be in search of its first season-opening victory since February 16, 2002 when the Cavaliers defeated Bucknell by the score of 10-3 in Charlottesville, Va. UVa’s last victory in its first road game of the season also occurred that year on February 24, 2002 after Virginia posted a 5-4 win over The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
UVA IN HOME OPENERS: Over the past 24 seasons, Virginia stands 21-1-2 (.916) all-time in home-openers. The Cavaliers have not lost a home-opener since a 6-2 setback to VCU back on March 1, 1989. Virginia has either won or tied its home opener the past 14 consecutive seasons.
Here is a look at UVa’s home openers since 1980:
Year Opponent Date Result/Score2003 James Madison 3/4 W, 3-22002 Bucknell 2/16 W, 10-32001 Navy 2/17 W, 9-12000 Old Dominion 2/16 T, 14-141999 Penn State 2/20 W, 6-31998 Penn State 2/21 W, 5-21997 Seton Hall 2/22 W, 11-101996 Old Dominion 2/19 W, 3-21995 Marshall 2/18 W, 5-01994 Georgetown 2/25 W, 14-01993 Marshall 2/20 W, 4-21992 VMI 2/22 W, 14-51991 Liberty 2/25 T, 5-51990 William & Mary 2/23 W, 6-31989 VCU 3/1 L, 6-21988 West Chester 2/28 W, 13-81987 VCU 3/4 W, 6-11986 Seton Hall 3/1 W, 3-21985 Seton Hall 3/1 W, 3-01984 George Mason 3/4 W, 12-11983 VCU 3/5 W, 11-81982 Norfolk State 3/22 W, 15-81981 Westfield State 3/12 W, 21-81980 Longwood 3/17 W, 10-8
VIRGINIA RECORDED ITS BEST ACC FINISH SINCE THE 1988 SEASON IN 2003: With its 11-12 mark in the ACC in 2003, Virginia recorded its best record in the conference standings since the 1988 season when UVa finished 11-10 in the ACC. The Cavaliers’ 11 victories were their most wins in the conference standings since UVa posted 11 wins in the ACC (11-13 overall) in 1996. The 11 victories also tied the mark for the most conference wins ever for Virginia in the ACC.
VIRGINIA WON ITS MOST GAMES SINCE THE 1997 SEASON IN 2003: Following its run in the 2003 ACC Tournament, Virginia put the wraps on its 2003 season with an overall record of 29-25. UVa’s 29 wins were the most overall victories by the Cavaliers in the last six years since going 32-22 overall in 1997.
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME: On April 12, 2003 in a game against the #12 Miami Hurricanes, Virginia set a new facility single-game attendance record at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium when 1,955 spectators turned out to watch the contest. The previous facility record was 1,665 for a game against #5 Wake Forest on April 13, 2002.
VIRGINIA BY THE NUMBERS IN 2003: Virginia finished the 2003 season with a record of 29-25 overall, 11-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. UVa went 1-2 in the 2003 ACC Tournament and did not compete in the NCAA Regionals. The Cavaliers were 6-20 against teams ranked in the Top 25 and finished 10-6 against in-state opponents. Virginia finished 19-9 at home, 8-14 on the road and was 2-2 on neutral sites. UVa was 23-14 in games played in the day and was 6-11 in contests played at night. The Cavaliers were 18-14 against right-handed pitcher and finished 11-11 against left-handed pitchers on the mound. Virginia was 5-9 in games decided by one run, 4-5 in contests decided by two runs and was 17-8 in games decided by five or more runs. UVa was 5-4 in shutouts and was 2-2 in extra inning games. The Cavaliers averaged 582 spectators per game at home, played in front of an average of 1,821 fans per game on the road and averaged a crowd of 1,178 spectators per game for contests played on a neutral site.