Virginia Rides 11-Game Winning Streak Into Chapel Hill To Face North Carolina In Key ACC Series

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March 31, 2005

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`HOOS UP NEXT?: The Virginia Cavaliers (19-6, 4-3 ACC) will face the #11 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels (21-5, 5-2 ACC) in a three-game Atlantic Coact Conference series at UNC’s Boshamer Stadium on April 1-3. Virginia and North Carolina are scheduled to meet on Friday, April 1st at 7:00 PM, Saturday, April 2nd at 1:00 PM and Sunday, April 3rd at 1:30 PM. The Tar Heels are the first ranked team the Cavaliers will face this season.

LAST TIME THEY MET: North Carolina defeated Virginia two games to one last year in the ACC series between the two schools on March 19-21, 2004 in Charlottesville, Va. at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. UNC won the first two games 5-3 and 8-4 before UVa won the final game of the series 6-2.

VIRGINIA DEFEATED NORTH CAROLINA IN THE LAST ACC SERIES IN CHAPEL HILL: Virginia defeated North Carolina two games to one the last time the Cavaliers faced the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C. on May 16-17, 2003 at Boshamer Stadium. UVa won 6-4 in the first game of a doubleheader before UNC took the second contest 4-3 in 10 innings on May 16th. The Cavaliers then came right back the following day (May 17) and won the final game of the series 7-5 in 10 innings over the Tar Heels. UVa’s ACC series victory over North Carolina (two games to one) was Virginia’s first ever ACC series victory over UNC in Chapel Hill.

UVA’S PROBABLE PITCHING FOR VIRGINIA VS. NORTH CAROLINA: Virginia is expected to use the weekend rotation of Matt Avery (RHP, 3-2, 4.35 ERA, 31.0 IP, 28 K) on Friday, April 1st, Mike Ballard (LHP, 5-1, 2.68 ERA, 47.0 IP, 29 K) on Saturday, April 2nd and Jeff Kamrath (RHP, 5-2, 2.95 ERA, 42.2 IP, 33 K) on Sunday, April 3rd against North Carolina. UVa’s rotation has changed slightly this weekend from the usual order of Ballard/Avery/Kamrath because Ballard and Kamrath pitched in Virginia’s lone game against Virginia Tech last weekend (March 27th) while Avery did not see any action last weekend against the Hokies.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT – CAVALIERS LOOK TO END TAR HEELS’ HOME UNBEATEN STREAK: When Virginia begins its three-game ACC series with North Carolina on April 1-3, 2005 in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Cavaliers will be looking to end the Tar Heels’ unbeaten winning streak at home. UNC enters it series with UVa with a perfect record of 19-0 in home games played at Boshamer Stadium in 2005. However, Virginia is no stranger to handing ACC teams their first home loss after a long winning streak leading into a big ACC series. On April 5, 2003 the UVa handed Clemson its first home loss of the season after claiming a 4-1 victory to end the Tigers’ perfect mark of 16-0 at home. On April 26, 2002 Virginia defeated Georgia Tech 5-1 to snap the Yellow Jackets’ 27-game home winning streak which dated back to the previous season.

UVA & UNC = ACC’S TWO HOTTEST TEAMS: Heading into the Virginia vs. North Carolina series, the Cavaliers and Tar Heels are the ACC’s two hottest teams. UVa has won 11 consecutive games while UNC has won six consecutive contests and is a perfect 19-0 at home.

VIRGINIA’S CURRENT RECORD & RANKINGS: Virginia stands 19-6 overall, 4-3 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 RIDING SEASON-HIGH 11-GAME WINNING STREAK: With its 2-1 victory over VMI on March 30th, Virginia increased its longest winning streak of the season to 11 games. The streak began with an 8-0 shutout over Longwood (March 8th) coupled with 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, swept Maryland three games to none on March 18-20 (4-1, 6-5, 5-2) before an 8-5 victory over Virginia Tech on March 27th.

UVA WINS 10TH CONSECUTIVE HOME GAME: Hidden in UVa’s current 11-game win streak following Virginia’s 2-1 victory over VMI on March 30th was the Cavaliers’ tenth consecutive home victory this season. UVa’s ten consecutive home wins this year matches the most consecutive home victories for Virginia since the Cavs won 10 consecutive home games from March 4-22 in 2003.

VIRGINIA IN WEEKEND SERIES ACTION: Virginia has played in seven weekend series matchups in 2005 and is 6-1 in weekend series outcomes. All of UVa’s weekend series went three-games except Virginia’s series with Virginia Tech on March 25-27. The series was shortened to just one game on March 27th at Radford University after playing conditions at VT’s English Field forced the cancelations of two games of the series and moved the series to a neutral site location. Virginia stands 14-5 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, 5-23/27	vs. Virginia Tech			W, 8-5