Virginia Baseball Travels To Clemson For Critical ACC Series April 15-17

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April 13, 2005

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`HOOS UP NEXT?: The Virginia Cavaliers (24-11, 5-8 ACC) will face the Clemson Tigers (19-13, 9-3 ACC) in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference Series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C. The Cavaliers and Tigers are schedule to play on Friday, April 15th at 7:15 PM; Saturday, April 16th at 4:00 PM and Sunday, April 17th at 1:00 PM.

VIRGINIA’S CURRENT RECORD & RANKINGS: Virginia stands 24-11 overall, 5-8 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. Virginia was ranked #27 by Collegiate Baseball and #32 by the NCBWA earlier this season.

LAST TIME THEY MET: Virginia swept then #23 ranked Clemson three games to none on April 9-10, 2004 in Charlottesville last season at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. Virginia defeated Clemson 5-1 on April 9th in the opening game of the series before the Cavaliers won a doubleheader against the Tigers 4-3 and 3-1 on April 10th.

CAVALIERS’ SWEEP OVER TIGERS LAST SEASON WAS A MONUMENTAL SERIES FOR UVA: Virginia’s three-game sweep over Clemson on April 9-100 last season (2004) was a monumental series for UVa for several reasons. First, the three-game sweep over Clemson marked the first time Virginia swept a three-game ACC series over Clemson in baseball since the 1972 season. Second, the three victories at the time also helped UVa match its overall (29) and ACC (11) win totals from the previous season (2003) with a third of the regular season remaining on the Cavaliers’ 2004 schedule at the time. Third, the 11 ACC wins at the time matched the UVa school-record for most conference wins in a single season, a mark that later fell later that year as a new Virginia school-record of 18 ACC victories was established that season.

THE VIRGINIA/CLEMSON ALL-TIME SERIES: Virginia trails the all-time series with Clemson in baseball 98-30. However, the Cavaliers have won four of the last five games in the series and hold a current three-game winning streak in the series. UVa’s current three-game winning streak in the all-time series against the Tigers is the second longest winning streak four Virginia in its series history with Clemson. UVa has posted two four-game winning streaks in the series, one from 1956-57 and another from 1972-73. Clemson’s longest winning streak in the series is 31 games which stretched over an 12-year period from 1985-1996.

VIRGINIA ENDED CLEMSON’S UNBEATEN HOME WINNING STREAK LAST TIME UVA VISITED DOUG KINGSMORE STADIUM: On April 5th, 2003, Virginia won the second contest of a three-game series against the Clemson Tigers by the score of 4-1 to hand Clemson it’s first home loss of the 2003 season. The Tigers entered the game with a perfect mark of 16-0 at home before the loss to UVa.

PROBABLE PITCHING FOR CAVALIERS IN THE VIRGINIA VS. CLEMSON SERIES: Virginia is expected to use the trio of Matt Avery, Mike Ballard and Jeff Kamrath on the mound as its starting pitching rotation for the Clemson series. Avery (RHP, 4-2, 3.80 ERA, 45.0 IP, 41 K) is expected to start on Friday, Ballard (LHP, 5-3, 3.92 ERA, 57.1 IP, 32 K) is scheduled to start on Saturday and Kamrath (RHP, 5-3, 2.40 ERA, 56.1 IP, 44 K) is scheduled to start on Sunday.

CLEMSON – A GREAT PLACE TO PLAY, A TOUGH PLACE TO WIN: Clemson, S.C. and Doug Kingsmore Stadium combine to form one of the top places in the nation when it comes to great college baseball environments. Like Virginia’s Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium, Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium has been ranked as one of the top college baseball facilities in the country. But as nice as Doug Kingsmore Stadium may be, it has also been a place that’s hard to win for opposing teams. Virginia is 7-49 overall in games played at Clemson, S.C. including a mark of 5-37 in games played at the Tigers’ Kingsmore Stadium. UVa has only won twice at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium (4-1 on 4/1/03 & 9-3 on 5/1/99) since 1974.

CAVALIERS ARE CLOSE TO FULL STRENGTH: Virginia welcomed back the services of starters Josh Darby (1B) and Tom Hagan (LF) after both players were lost for several weeks during the mid-season due to injuries they suffered earlier in the year. Darby and Hagan haven’t missed a beat since their return as both players made an immediate impact in the UVa lineup.

VIRGINIA JUST FOUR GAMES OFF RECORD PACE FROM 2004 SEASON: Virginia’s record of 24-11 overall through 35 games this season is just four games behind the Cavaliers’ mark of 28-7 through their first 35 games last year during UVa’s record-tying season for most wins (44).

VIRGINIA VS. RANKED TEAMS: Virginia has played six games this season against teams ranked in the national polls (Baseball America Top-25, Collegiate Baseball Top-30, ESPN/Sports Weekly Top-25, NCBWA Top-35). The Cavaliers are 1-5 against nationally ranked teams this season. Here is a closer look at those contests:

Date	Ranked Opponent	UVa Result4/1	@ #11 North Carolina	L, 8-74/2	@ #11 North Carolina	L, 10-54/3	@ #11 North Carolina	L, 3-24/8	#33 N.C. State		W, 2-04/9	#33 N.C. State		L, 6-04/10	#33 N.C. State		L, 1-0

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 44 RBI. The UVa school record for most RBI in a single season (67). Zimmerman also ranks 10th all-time at Virginia for most RBI in a career in just his third season with 125.

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 68-26 overall, 23-14 in the ACC. Last season (2004), O’Connor was named just the second Virginia baseball coach ever to be named the ACC Coach of the Year.

`HOOS BY THE MONTH: Virginia won eight of its 11 games in the month of February (8-3) and won 11 of 14 games in March (11-3). The Cavaliers are 5-5 in the month of April. Here is a look at UVa’s record broken down by the month:

Month		Virginia's RecordFebruary	8-3, 0-0 ACCMarch		11-3, 4-3 ACCApril 		5-5, 1-5 ACC

VIRGINIA IN WEEKEND SERIES ACTION: Virginia has played in nine weekend series matchups in 2005 and is 6-3 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 15-10 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, 8-54/1	@ #11 North Carolina		L , 8-7 (14)4/2	@ #11 North Carolina		L, 10-54/3	@ #11 North Carolina		L, 3-2 (11)4/8	#33 N.C. State			W, 2-04/9	#33 N.C. State			L, 6-04/10	#33 N.C. State			L, 1-0

VIRGINIA BREAKS SCHOOL-RECORD FOR SHUTOUTS IN A SEASON IN JUST 19 GAMES: This year’s Virginia team has posted a school-record nine shutouts so far this season. On March 13th with its 6-0 shutout win over Marist, 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. Also, 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.

CLOSER LOOK AT VIRGINIA’S SHUTOUTS: Virginia is enjoying a record setting year for most shutouts in a single season. The Cavaliers have shutout a school-record nine opponents this year and even more impressive, UVa posted a shutout in seven of its first 19 games this season. Here is a look at Virginia’s shutout wins this season:

Date	Opponent		Score2/12	@ UNC Wilmington	W, 2-02/19	Bucknell			W, 2-02/23	Old Dominion		W, 8-02/26	Fordham		W, 5-03/8	Longwood		W, 8-03/11	Marist			W, 3-03/13	Marist			W, 6-04/8	N.C. State		W, 2-04/13	Maryland-Eastern Shore	W, 6-0

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 against Clemson, Virginia’s opponents have committed 73 errors to just 35 for UVa.