Virginia Continues Homestand With Series Against Fordham On February 25-27

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Feb. 24, 2005

`HOOS UP NEXT?: The Virginia Cavaliers (6-2, 0-0 ACC) will host the Fordham Rams (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic-10) in a three-game non-conference series on February 26-27 in Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers and Rams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, February 26th at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM and on Sunday, February 27th at 1:00 PM. All three contests will be played at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.

PROBABLE PITCHING FOR VIRGINIA VS. FORDHAM: Virginia is expected to start the trio of Mike Ballard (LHP, 2-0, 1.20 ERA, 9K) in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday and Matt Avery (RHP, 1-1, 1.32 ERA, 13K) in game two on Saturday, followed by Jeff Kamrath (RHP, 2-0, 3.18 ERA, 12K) on Sunday. Fordham is expected to counter with Shingo Mitsumori (RHP, 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 4K) in game one and Javier Martinez (RHP, 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 5K) in game two on Saturday and will go with a pitcher to be determined on Sunday.

VIRGINIA’S CURRENT RECORD & RANKINGS: Virginia (6-2, 0-0 ACC) is not ranked in this week’s college baseball polls. However, UVa is receiving 27 votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Top-25 Poll. The Cavaliers are not ranked by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball or the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Virginia Baseball National Rankings

SPORTS WEEKLY/ESPN COACHES TOP-25 POLLDate		UVa's Ranking		UVa's RecordPreseason	Receiving Votes (79)	0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 7	Receiving Votes (29)	0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 14	Receiving Votes (33)	2-1, 0-0 ACCFebruary 21	Receiving Votes (27)	5-2, 0-0 ACC

NCBWA TOP-35 POLLDate		UVa's Ranking		UVa's RecordPreseason	#32			0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 7	#32			0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 14	#33			2-1, 0-0 ACCFebruary 21	Not Ranked		5-2, 0-0 ACC 

COLLEGIATE BASEBALL TOP-30 POLLDate		UVa's Ranking		UVa's RecordPreseason	#27			0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 7	#27			0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 14	Not Ranked		2-1, 0-0 ACCFebruary 21	Not Ranked		5-2, 0-0 ACC 

BASEBALL AMERICA TOP-25 POLLDate		UVa's Ranking		UVa's RecordPreseason	Not Ranked		0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 7	Not Ranked		0-0, 0-0 ACCFebruary 14	Not Ranked		2-1, 0-0 ACCFebruary 21	Not Ranked		5-2, 0-0 ACC

ALL EYES ARE ON LAMBERT: Virginia’s Casey Lambert was named to the initial watch list for the 2005 National Stopper of the Year Award, sponsored by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Lambert is one of 30 Division I closers from across the nation in the running for the first-year award. Last season (2004), Lambert tied the UVa school record for most saves in a single season with eight as a true first-year. He turned in a mark of 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA and stuck out 40 batters through 60.1 innings of work to go along with his eight saves last year. This season (2005), Lambert has already recorded three saves in three appearances and has struck out five batters in 2.1 innings of work. At the end the 2005 regular season, the Division I leader in saves and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as the award’s finalists. These finalists will be released June 1, just prior to the beginning of NCAA regional play. From the list of finalists, the NCBWA’s All-America Committee will select a winner. The inaugural winner will be announced on June 8, two days prior to the beginning of NCAA Super Regional action. The NCBWA, founded in 1962, presents the Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy to the nation’s top player. It also selects a Division I All-America Team, Division I and III Players of the Week, Division I District Players of the Year and Division III Players of the Year.

O’CONNOR REACHES 50 WINS IN A HURRY: With Virginia’s 8-0 shutout victory over Old Dominion on February 23rd, second-year UVa head coach Brian O’Connor reached the 50-wins mark in his young coaching career. O’Connor recorded his 50th win in only his 67th game as a head coach.

NO RUNS FOR YOU…..OR YOU…..OR YOU: With its 8-0 shutout victory over Old Dominion on February 23rd, Virginia posted its third shutout of the season in just its eighth game of the year. UVa also shutout UNC Wilmington 2-0 on February 12th and shutout Bucknell 2-0 on February 19th.

CAVALIERS NOT BEATING THEMSELVES WITH ERRORS: Last season, much of the success Virginia enjoyed was due to not beating themselves with costly errors. In 2004, UVa established a new single-season school record fielding percentage mark of .973 while committing just 62 errors to their opponents 105. Against Bucknell in UVa’s three-game series with the Bison, Virginia didn’t commit a single error for the series while Bucknell committed 10, including seven errors in one game. Against UNCW in UVa’s three-game series with the Seahawks on February 11-13, Virginia committed just three errors for the series while UNC Wilmington committed eight, including four errors in one game. The Cavaliers won five of the six games in the two series with Bucknell and UNC Wilmington and had just three errors to their opponents 18 in both series. Heading into its three game series with Fordham, Virginia’s opponents have committed 21 errors to just six for UVa.

VIRGINIA IN THREE-GAME WEEKEND SERIES ACTION: Virginia has played in two three-game series thus far in 2005 and is 2-0 in series action. UVa defeated UNC Wilmington two games to one (February 11-13) and swept Bucknell three games to none to improve to 5-1 in weekend series contests this season. Here is a look at the Cavaliers’ results for weekend series games:

Date	Virginia's Opponent		Results2/11	@ UNC Wilmington		L, 5-22/12	@ UNC Wilmington		W, 2-02/13	@ UNC Wilmington		W, 7-42/18	Bucknell				W, 7-22/19	Bucknell (DH 1)			W, 2-02/19	Bucknell (DH 2)			W, 13-3

O’CONNOR-METER: Virginia head baseball coach Brian O’Connor is in his second year as UVa’s head coach. His career coaching record at UVa stands at 50-17 overall, 18-6 in the ACC.

2005 Cavalier Firsts

BattingAt bat: Matt Street @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Hit: Ryan Hudson @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Run: Matt Street @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.RBI: Ryan Zimmerman @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Extra-base hit: Sean Doolittle @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13.Double: Josh Darby @ Old Dominion on 2/16.Triple: N/AHome run: Sean Doolittle @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13.Base runner: Ryan Hudson @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Walk: Ryan Hudson @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Strikeout: Josh Darby @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Hit batsman: Tom Hagan @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Sacrifice bunt: Matt Street @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Sacrifice fly: Ryan Zimmerman @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13.Stolen base attempt: Matt Street & Tom Hagan (double steal)@ UNCW on 2/11.Stolen base: Matt Street & Tom Hagan (double steal) @ UNCW on 2/11.Caught stealing: Matt Street @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13.

PitchingWin: Mike Ballard @ UNC Wilmington on 2/12.Loss: Matt Avery @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Save: Casey Lambert @ UNC Wilmington on 2/12.Complete game: N/AShutout: N/AStrikeout: Matt Avery @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Walk: Matt Avery @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Wild pitch: Ryan Ouellette  @ Old Dominion on 2/16.Hit batsman: Mike Ballard vs. Bucknell on 2/18.Balk: N/A

FieldingPutout: Josh Darby @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Assist: Kyle Werman @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Fielding error: Mike Campagna @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.

2005 Big Innings

VirginiaFirst: 3, @ Old Dominion on 2/16.Second: 3, @ Old Dominion on 2/16.Third: 4,  vs. Bucknell on 2/19.Fourth: 2, @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13,  vs. Bucknell on 2/18.Fifth: 1, @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13,  vs. Bucknell on 2/19.Sixth: 5,  vs. Bucknell on 2/19.Seventh: 2, @ UNC Wilmington on 2/12, vs. Old Dominion 2/23.Eighth: 3, vs. Old Dominion 2/23.Ninth: N/A

OpponentFirst: 2, @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Second: 3, @ UNC Wilmington on 2/13.Third:  N/AFourth: 1,  vs. Bucknell on 2/18 & 2/19.Fifth:  N/ASixth: 4, @ Old Dominion on 2/16.Seventh: 3, @ Old Dominion on 2/16.Eighth: 2, @ UNC Wilmington on 2/11.Ninth: 1,  vs. Bucknell on 2/19.

SHUT `EM DOWN: Virginia’s Matt Avery was one out away from throwing a complete game shutout in Virginia’s 2-0 shutout victory over Bucknell on February 19th. Avery went 8.2 innings and allowed no runs on six hits while striking out a game-high eight batters in the Cavaliers’ two-run victory. However, Avery did pitch a complete game shutout two starts prior to the Bucknell game when he threw a complete game shutout in UVa’s 9-0 win over Princeton (June 6th, 2004) in the 2004 Charlottesville Regional in the NCAA Tournament last season.

ZIMMERMAN WAS A ONE-MAN WRECKING CREW AGAINST THE BISON: UVa’s Ryan Zimmerman was a one-man wrecking crew as he went 5-for-12 (.417) at the plate with eight RBI and two runs to lead UVa to pace the Cavaliers a three-game sweep over Bucknell on February 18-19. Zimmerman, a three-year starter at third base for the Cavaliers, also logged his first collegiate start at shortstop in the Bucknell series.

GUYER’S FIRST HIT A STROLL (INSIDE) THE PARK: In his second ever at-bat as a Cavalier, Virginia’s Brandon Guyer hit a home run to help UVa defeated Bucknell 7-2 on February 18th. What’s more, Guyer’s home run never even left the ballpark. Guyer posted an inside the park home run when he sent a blast of the left-center field wall at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. Guyer used his speed and was able to round all the bases after his longball ricocheted off the wall as he beat the relay throw to home plate.

Mike Ballard NAMED ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Virginia’s Mike Ballard was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week (2/14). Ballard, a third-year LHP for the Cavaliers, led UVa to a 2-0 victory over UNC-Wilmington on February 12th in his first pitching appearance since the 2003 season. He missed the 2004 campaign after having Tommy John surgery. Ballard pitched 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while striking out a game-high six batters to post the win on the mound for UVa.

FIRST TIME FOR FIRST-YEARS & NEWCOMERS: Many new faces for the Cavaliers have experienced their first action in a Virginia uniform in UVa’s early portion of the 2005 schedule. When Virginia faced UNC Wilmington in a three-game series on February 11-13, first-year Sean Doolittle appeared in all three games and also saw time on the mound and at the plate. He went 5-for-6 at the plate (including a 4-for-4 performance in one contest) and scored two runs with one RBI and hit UVa’s first home run of the season. Doolittle also pitched 4.0 total innings and struck out six batters. First-year pitchers Ryan Ouellette and Michael Schwimer each saw their first action on the mound and both pitchers recorded their first collegiate strikeouts. Junior college transfer Mike Campagna made his first start at shortstop and posted two hits and one RBI in the series. In Virginia’s game against Old Dominion on February 16th, first-year LHP Pat McAnaney made his first collegiate start and pitched 5.0 innings while allowing just two runs on six hits to go along with two strikeouts. In UVa’s three game series sweep against Bucknell (February 18-19), Virginia’s Robert Poutier, Anthony Martinez, Brandon Guyer, Patrick Wingfield, Joe Florio and Matt Bernstine saw their first action as a Cavalier. Poutier made his first appearance on the mound and retired three batters, Martinez made his first appearance and posted his first collegiate hit, Guyer made his first start and recorded his first collegiate hit (an inside the park home run), Wingfield posted his first hit, Florio made his first collegiate start and tallied his first hit and Bernstine saw his first appearance at UVa and recorded his first putout.

DOOLITTLE DOING A LOT RIGHT AWAY: Virginia first-year INF/LHP Sean Doolittle had a breakout series in his coming out party at UNC Wilmington on February 11-13. Doolittle appeared in all three games of the series and logged time on the mound as a pitcher and at the plate as a DH. Doolittle went 5-for-6 at the plate for the series (including a 4-for-4 performance in UVa’s 7-4 victory in game three) and scored two runs with one RBI and hit UVa’s first home run of the season. He also pitched 4.0 innings and struck out six batters in two games, including the first two batters he faced. In his next outing, a game against Old Dominion on February 16th, Doolittle went 2-for-5 at the plate with four more RBIs and scored a run and connected on his second home run of the season.

UVA’S BALLARD & KAMRATH MAKE THEIR RETURNS KNOWN: LHP Mike Ballard and RHP Jeff Kamrath missed the entire 2004 season due to Tommy John surgery and both pitchers made their first appearances for UVa in two years (since 2003) on February 12th and 13th, respectively, in Virginia’s weekend series against UNC Wilmington. Ballard and Kamrath both erased any doubts about not performing like their old selves, as both hurlers led the Cavaliers to a victory in each game they pitched. Ballard pitched 7.0 scoreless innings and struck out a game-high six batters while allowing just two hits to pick up the victory in UVa’s 2-0 win over UNCW on February 12th. Kamrath went 5.1 innings and also struck out a game-high six batters while allowing three earned runs on seven hits to post the win in the Cavaliers’ 7-4 victory over the Seahawks on February 13th.

CAVALIERS’ PITCHING PLUCKS SEAHAWKS FOR THE SERIES: Virginia’s pitching staff recorded 30 strikeouts to only 13 for UNC Wilmington in UVa’s three-game series with UNCW on February 11-13. The Cavaliers’ pitching staff averaged 10 strikeouts per game against the Seahawks and posted 12 strikeouts in the decisive third game of the series.

VIRGINIA PICKED SIXTH IN ACC PRESEASON POLL: Virginia was picked to finish sixth in the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. UVa returns a solid core of position players and a majority of its pitchers from last year’s NCAA Regional advancing team that finished 44-15 overall, 18-6 in the conference. The ACC’s 11 head coaches selected league-newcomer Miami as the top pick in the conference in 2005 with eight first place votes and a total of 118 points. UVa was picked seventh in the 2004 preseason coaches poll last year and finished second. Here is a look at the 2005 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll:

2005 ACC Preseason Baseball Coaches PollRank	School		Points	2004 Record1.    	Miami (8)             	118               50-13 -  Independent2.      	North Carolina (3) 110                43-21, 14-10 ACC3.   	Georgia Tech       93                  44-21, 18-5 ACC4.      	Florida State         89            45-23, 16-8 ACC5.    	Clemson               80                    39-26, 14-10 ACC6.  	Virginia                63                 44-15, 18-6 ACC7.    	NC State            	55                    36-24, 11-12 ACC8. 	Wake Forest        34                 17-33, 4-20 ACC9.   	Maryland              30              22-34, 4-20 ACCt-10.   	Duke                    27             25-31, 8-16 ACCt-10. 	Virginia Tech      	27        	29-27, 11-15 Big East(#) denotes first place votes

ZIMMERMAN GATHERS ALL-AMERICAN HONORS: Virginia’s Ryan Zimmerman has been honored by several publications as a 2005 Preseason All-American selection. Zimmerman, a third-year third baseman, was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by Baseball American, a Second Team Preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and a Third Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball. He was also named USA Baseball’s Athlete of the Year.

PRESEASON PUB: Virginia’s Matt Avery, Casey Lambert, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Zimmerman have garnered preseason attention for their play. Avery was named a Top-10 prospect in the ACC by Baseball America and was tabbed a Second Team All-ACC preseason pick by SEBaseball.com. Lambert was named a Second Team All-ACC preseason choice by SEBaseball.com and Doolittle was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year by Baseball America. Zimmerman, an All-American third baseman, was named the best defensive third baseman in the ACC.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Virginia’s Scott Headd, Jeff Kamrath, Matt Street and Kyle Werman were selected as UVa’s team captains for the 2005 season. Kamrath, Street and Werman are fifth-year seniors and Headd is a true fourth-year.

THEY’RE BACK!: Virginia’s LHP Mike Ballard and RHP Jeff Kamrath are back in action in 2005 after missing the 2004 season due to injuries. Ballard and Kamrath were UVa’s top two pitchers in the weekend rotation for the 2003 season before injuries cut their seasons short. In Ballard’s last outing for the Cavaliers, he stifled #20 Clemson when he shut down a potent Tiger offense and handed them their first home loss of the season by tossing 5.0 scoreless innings and striking out six batters to pace Virginia to a 4-1 road win in Clemson, S.C. on April 5, 2003. In Kamrath last outing for the Cavaliers, he pitched a compete game shutout and struck out 11 batters on March 28, 2003 in a 6-0 victory over Maryland.

UVA IN HOME-OPENERS: Over the past 26 seasons, Virginia stands 23-1-2 (.923) in home-openers. UVa defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore on February 19th to win its 2004 home-opener. 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 15 consecutive seasons.

Here is a look at UVa’s home openers since 1980:

Year	Opponent		Date	            Result/Score2005	Bucknell			2/18		W, 7-22004 	Maryland Eastern Shore	2/19		W, 15-22003	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

UVA’S 2005 EARLY SIGNING PERIOD RECRUITING CLASS RANKED IN TOP-10: Virginia’s early signing period recruiting class was ranked 10th in the country according to Team One Baseball. UVa’s 2005 recruiting class consists of David Adams, David Caldwell, Andrew Carraway, Jeremy Farrell, Chance Gilmore, Shooter Hunt, Brandon Marsh, Greg Miclat, Brett Summers, Jacob Thompson and Wes Williams.

VIRGINIA’S 2004 RECRUITING CLASS WAS RANKED IN TOP-40: Virginia’s 2004 recruiting class was ranked #32 in the country according to Collegiate Baseball’s recruiting results in the newspaper’s 22nd annual rundown of NCAA Division I baseball recruiting classes. UVa’s recruiting class was the top-rated class in the Commonwealth of Virginia and was one of seven classes from an Atlantic Coast Conference school that appeared in the Top-40.