Virginia Travels To Blacksburg For Three-Game ACC Series Against Virginia Tech March 25-27

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March 24, 2005

`HOOS UP NEXT?: The Virginia Cavaliers (17-6, 3-3 ACC) will face the Virginia Tech Hokies (7-8, 1-6 ACC) in a three-game ACC series on March 25-27 in Blacksburg, Va. at English Field. Virginia and Virginia Tech are scheduled to play on Friday, March 25th at 7:00 PM, Saturday, March 26th at 7:00 PM and Sunday, March 27th at 2:00 PM.

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LAST TIME THEY MET: Virginia defeated Virginia Tech 21-10 on April 21, 2004 in Charlottesville at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. The Cavaliers pounded out 19 hits to score their 21 runs in the 11-run victory. UVa has won the last two games against Virginia Tech after the Cavaliers defeated the Hokies 10-7 on April 23, 2003 in Salem, Va. The Hokies defeated Virginia 5-3 on April 16, 2003 the last time the two teams played in Blacksburg at English Field. Virginia has won three of the last four meetings and seven of the last 12 contests played in the series against Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers stands 7-5 since the 2000 season against the Hokies. Here is a look at the UVa/VT series since the 2000 season:

Date	Opponents			Score	Location4/21/04	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		21-10	Charlottesville, Va.4/23/03	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		10-7	Salem, Va.4/16/03	Virginia Tech def. Virginia		5-3	Blacksburrg, Va.4/30/02	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		8-7	Charlottesville, Va.4/18/02	Virginia Tech def. Virginia		8-2	Salem, Va.4/10/02	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		16-10	Blacksburg, Va.5/1/01	Virginia Tech def. Virginia		6-1	Salem, Va.4/18/01	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		9-3	Blacksburg, Va.4/11/01	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		7-4	Charlottesville, Va.5/2/00	Virginia def. Virginia Tech		5-4	Salem, Va.4/19/00	Virginia Tech def. Virginia 		7-6	Blacksburg, Va.3/29/00	Virginia Tech def. Virginia		7-3	Charlottesville, Va.

VIRGINIA VS. VIRGINIA TECH ALL-TIME SERIES: The Hokies hold a narrow edge in the all-time series with the Cavaliers, 74-72. Virginia has won the last two games against Virginia Tech in the series.

UVA’S PROBABLE PITCHING FOR VIRGINIA VS. VIRGINIA TECH: Virginia is expected to start Mike Ballard (LHP, 5-1, 2.25 ERA, 44.0 IP, 28 K) on Friday, Matt Avery (RHP, 3-2, 4.35 ERA, 31.0 IP, 28 K) on Saturday and Jeff Kamrath (RHP, 4-2, 3.35 ERA, 37.2 IP, 30 K) on Sunday against Virginia Tech.

VIRGINIA IN THREE-GAME WEEKEND SERIES ACTION: Virginia has played in six three-game series thus far in 2005 and is 5-1 in weekend series decisions (winning two or more of the three games). UVa defeated UNC Wilmington two games to one (February 11-13), swept Bucknell three games to none, won two of three against Fordham (February 26-27), was swept by Wake Forest three games to none (March 4-6), swept Marist three games to none (March 11-13) and swept Maryland three games to none (March 18-20). Virginia stands 13-5 overall 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, 13-32/26	Fordham (DH 1)			W, 5-02/26	Fordham (DH 2)			W, 13-32/27	Fordham 			L, 3-23/4	@ Wake Forest 			L, 11-83/5	@ Wake Forest 			L, 15-83/6	@ Wake Forest			L, 7-63/11	Marist				W, 3-03/12	Marist				W, 10-53/13	Marist				W, 6-03/18	Maryland			W, 4-13/19	Maryland			W, 6-53/20	Maryland			W, 5-2

VIRGINIA’S CURRENT RECORD & RANKINGS: Virginia stands 17-6 overall, 3-3 in the ACC. UVa is not ranked in this week’s college baseball polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly/ESPN, NCBWA) but is receiving votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Top-25 and the NCBWA Top-35.

CAVALIERS WERE PERFECT IN NINE-GAME HOME STAND: The Cavaliers won all nine contests during their nine-game home stand which equals their longest win streak this year. Also, Virginia’s record of 17-6 overall through 23 games this season is just one game behind the Cavaliers’ mark of 18-5 through their first 23 games last year during UVa’s record-tying season for most wins (44).

RBI = RYAN BATS-`EM IN: Virginia’s Ryan Zimmerman has been an RBI machine so far this season. Zimmerman has driven in a team-high 33 RBI and has accounted for 33 of UVa’s 141 RBI this season. He is on pace to break the UVa school record for most RBI in a single season (67).

CAVALIERS RIDING SEASON-HIGH NINE-GAME WINNING STREAK: With its three-game sweep over Maryland on March 18-20, Virginia increased its longest winning streak of the season to nine games. The streak began with an 8-0 shutout over Longwood (March 8th) and a 13-2 win over James Madison (March 9th) before sweeping Marist three games to none on March 11-13 (3-0, 10-5, 6-0) . UVa then defeated Coppin State 15-1 on March 16th before sweeping Maryland three games to none on March 18-20 (4-1, 6-5, 5-2).

VIRGINIA BREAKS SCHOOL-RECORD FOR SHUTOUTS IN A SEASON IN JUST 19 GAMES: With its 6-0 shutout win over Marist on March 13th, Virginia posted its seventh shutout this year which set a new UVa school record for most shutouts in a single season after just 19 games. The former record for most shutouts in a single season at Virginia was six set by the 1996 squad. Included in the Cavaliers’ seven shutouts this season was a 5-0 victory over Fordham and an 8-0 win over Old Dominion on February 23rd in consecutive games which marked the first time Virginia shutout consecutive opponents since defeating Seton Hall 8-0 and 4-0 on March 2, 1996.

CAVALIERS NOT BEATING THEMSELVES WITH ERRORS: Last season, much of the success Virginia enjoyed was due to not beating itself 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. Heading into its three-game series with Virginia Tech, Virginia’s opponents have committed 55 errors to just 21 for UVa. Against Maryland in a three-game ACC series, the Cavaliers didn’t commit a single error while the Terrapins committed seven for the series. In the Cavaliers’ three-game series with Bucknell, Virginia didn’t commit a single error for the series while the Bison committed 10, including seven errors in one game. Against UNCW in UVa’s three-game series with the Seahawks, Virginia committed just three errors for the series while UNC Wilmington committed eight, including four errors in one game. Against Fordham, the Rams committed five errors (including four in one game) while the Cavaliers committed just two errors for the series. The Cavaliers won 10 of the 12 games in the four series with Fordham, Bucknell and UNC Wilmington and had just five errors to their opponents 30 in all four of those series.

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 61-21 overall, 21-9 in the ACC.