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Feb. 19, 2004
‘HOOS UP NEXT?: Virginia (3-0) is set to face Maryland-Eastern Shore (0-2) in the Cavaliers’ next game on Thursday, February 19th at 3:00 PM at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. Virginia enters the game 3-0 after sweeping a three-game series against North Carolina A&T, while UMES enters the contest 0-2 after dropping a pair of games to Savannah State. Maryland-Eastern Shore was 5-33 overall, 1-13 in the MEAC last season.
MEAC ATTACK: When Virginia faces Maryland-Eastern Shore on Thursday, it will mark the fourth consecutive opponent the Cavaliers have played this season from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. North Carolina A&T is also a member of the MEAC.
UVA PITCHING PROBABLES: RHP Matt Avery is expected to make his first start and second appearance in Virginia’s game against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Thursday. LHP Andrew Dobies (Saturday) and RHP Chris Gale (Sunday) are expected to pitch for the Cavaliers this weekend when UVa faces Penn State on February 21st and 22nd.
Joe Koshansky NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Virginia’s Joe Koshansky was named the first Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week for the 2004 season. Koshansky, a fourth-year 1B/LHP, started in all three of Virginia’s victories over North Carolina A&T (10-7, 9-3, 12-5) for the weekend of February 13-15 in Greensboro, N.C. at War Memorial Stadium. He started two games at first base and one game on the mound as a pitcher. For the series, Koshansky batted .462 after going 6-for-13 at the plate with five RBI and five runs. Two of his six hits were home runs, including a three-run shot. He also posted a double, three singles and stole one base.
Although he was not honored for his performance on the mound, Koshansky tossed 6.0 strong innings to pick up his first victory of the year and allowed just one unearned run on one hit while striking out a game-high five batters.
UVA IN HOME OPENERS: Over the past 24 seasons, Virginia stands 21-1-2 (.916) 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/Score2004 Maryland Eastern Shore 2/19 TBA2003 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
UMES ADDED TO VIRGINIA’S SCHEDULE FOR HOME OPENER: Virginia has added a game to its 2004 schedule and is set to play Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday, February 19th at 3:00 PM at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. The contest will be the Cavaliers’ home-opener.
UVA/UNCG CONTEST CANCELLED: Virginia’s game against the UNC Greensboro Spartans scheduled for Wednesday, February 18th at 4:00 PM in Greensboro, N.C. has been cancelled due to poor field conditions following inclement weather that hit the Greensboro area this past weekend.
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.
DUNN GOES YARD: Second-year starting left fielder Matt Dunn made his first at-bat of the 2004 season count, as he connected on his first collegiate home run with a solo shot to right field in Virginia’s 10-7 victory over North Carolina A&T in UVa’s season-opener.
MITCHELL BLAZES ON BASE PATH: First-year center fielder Mike Mitchell stole four bases in one game in Virginia’s 12-5 victory over North Carolina A&T (2/15). The previous know game-high total for most stolen bases in one game for a Cavalier was three. For the series against N.C. A&T, Mitchell was 5-for-5 in stolen baase attempts.
CAVALIERS SWEEP AGGIES IN THREE GAMES: Virginia began its 2004 season with three consecutive victories over the North Carolina A&T Aggies on February 13-15 in Greensboro, N.C. at War Memorial Stadium. UVa defeated N.C. A&T 10-7, 9-3 and 12-5.
O’CONNOR-METER: First-year UVa’s head baseball coach Brian O’Connor’s career coaching record stands at 3-0, 0-0 in the ACC.
FIRST TIME FOR FIRST-YEARS: Several first-year players saw action in Virginia’s season-opening series sweep against North Carolina A&T (February 13-15). CF Mike Mitchell started all three games and went 5-for-13 at the plate with two runs, one RBI and stole five bases for the series. 1B Josh Darby started one game at went 2-for-5 at the plate and scored two runs. Tim Henry played one game and entered the contest as a pinch runner and score a run. LHP Casey Lambert pitched 1.2 innings and struck out one batter.
UVA POSTS SEASON-OPENING VICTORY: Virginia won its season-opener by the score of 10-7 over the North Carolina A&T Aggies on February 13, 2004 in Greensboro, N.C. The win was UVa’s first in a season-opener since February 16, 2002 when the Cavaliers defeated Bucknell by the score of 10-3 in Charlottesville, Va. The victory also marked Virginia’s first win in its first road game of the season since February 24, 2002 when UVa posted a 5-4 win over The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
Brian O’Connor ERA BEGINS WITH A BANG: The start of Brian O’Connor’s career as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers got started with a 10-7 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies on February 13, 2004 in Greensboro, N.C. at War Memorial Stadium. After posting a win in the series opener of the three-game series, the Cavaliers went on to sweep the Aggies three games to none (10-7, 9-3, 12-5).
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.
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
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.