Virginia Baseball Hosts #4 Georgia Tech In Crucial ACC Series

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April 22, 2005

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`HOOS UP NEXT?: The Virginia Cavaliers (26-13, 6-10 ACC) will host the #4 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (30-7, 16-2) in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium on April 22-24. The Cavaliers and Yellow Jackets are scheduled to play on Friday, April 22nd at 7:00 PM; Saturday, April 23rd at 7:00 PM and Sunday, April 24th at 1:00 PM.

VIRGINIA’S CURRENT RECORD & RANKINGS: Virginia stands 26-13 overall, 6-10 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 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 #17 ranked Georgia Tech three games to none last year (4-3, 2-1, 8-5) on March 12-14, 2004 in Atlanta, Ga. at Russ Chandler Stadium the last time the two schools met. The Cavaliers’ three-game sweep over the Yellow Jackets marked the first time in the history of the UVa baseball program that Virginia swept Georgia Tech in a three-game ACC series. However, since UVa’s sweep of GT, the Yellow Jackets have been on fire as Georgia Tech has won 34 of its last 38 ACC games since falling to UVa in March of 2004. Last season, Virginia defeated Georgia Tech three times while the rest of the ACC schools combined only beat the Yellow Jackets twice.

THE VIRGINIA/GEORGIA TECH ALL-TIME SERIES: Virginia trails the all-time series with Georgia Tech in baseball, 30-56-1. However, the Cavaliers have won the last three consecutive meetings in the series against the Yellow Jackets which marks the second longest winning streak for UVa in the series history with GT. Virginia’s longest winning streak in the series with Georgia Tech is four consecutive games which occurred from 1980-1981.

PROBABLE PITCHING FOR CAVALIERS VS. GEORGIA TECH: Virginia is expected to go with the trio of Matt Avery (RHP), Mike Ballard (LHP) and Jeff Kamrath (RHP) against Georgia Tech. Avery (4-3, 4.09 ERA, 50.2 IP, 45 K) is expected to start on Friday, Ballard (5-3, 3.64 ERA, 64.1 IP, 35 K) is slated to start on Saturday and Kamrath (6-3, 2.45 ERA, 62.1 IP, 46 K) is scheduled to start on Sunday.

DAVE LEITAO TO THROW OUT FIRST PITCH IN UVA/GT SERIES: University of Virginia head men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao will throw the first pitch prior to UVa’s Atlantic Coast Conference series opening game against the #4 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Friday, April 22nd at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Leitao was named the Cavaliers’ new head men’s basketball coach on April 16th.

VIRGINIA’S Ryan Zimmerman & Casey Lambert ON AWARD WATCH LISTS: Virginia’s Ryan Zimmerman and Casey Lambert are two individuals who rank in the top-tier of players in the country. Zimmerman, a third-year third baseman/shortstop, is on the 2005 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List which goes to the top collegiate baseball player. Zimmerman is also a Golden Spikes Award candidate. Lambert is on the NCBWA’s Stopper of the Year Watch List which goes to the top relief pitcher in Division I.

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 SIX GAMES OFF RECORD PACE FROM 2004 SEASON: Virginia’s record of 26-13 overall through 39 games this season is just six games behind the Cavaliers’ mark of 32-7 through their first 39 games last year during UVa’s record-tying season for most wins (44).

SENDING OUT AN S.O.S. – LAMBERT SAVING VIRGINIA IN RECORD FASHION: Virginia’s Casey Lambert, in just his second year as a Cavalier, already stands second all-time at UVa for most saves in a career with 16. In fact, he stands tied for the most saves in a single season at Virginia with eight this season – a record he tied himself last year when he tied the school record mark of eight in 2004 as a first-year. Lambert has 16 career saves in just his second year as a Cavaliers and is on pace to shatter the career record mark of 18 at Virginia. He needs two saves to tie and three saves to set a new UVa school record for most saves in a career at Virginia.

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 Virginia stands at 70-28 overall, 24-16 in the ACC. Last season (2004), O’Connor was named just the second Virginia baseball coach ever to be selected the ACC Coach of the Year. In his first season as head coach at UVa, O’Connor guided Virginia to a school-record tying mark of 44 single season wins and it its fourth NCAA Regional appearance – including its first ever NCAA Regional appearance as a host site.

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

`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 7-7 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 		7-7, 2-7 ACC

VIRGINIA IN WEEKEND SERIES ACTION: Virginia has played in ten weekend series matchups in 2005 and is 6-4 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 16-12 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, 1-04/15	@ Clemson 		L, 13-44/16	@ Clemson		L, 3-24/17	@ Clemson		W, 9-2

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

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 45 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 126.

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 Georgia Tech, Virginia’s opponents have committed 78 errors to just 40 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.

VIRGINIA RECORDS RARE WIN AT CLEMSON: With its 9-2 victory over Clemson in the third game of a three-game ACC series with the Tigers on April 15th in Clemson, S.C., Virginia won just its eighth game ever at Clemson and just its sixth game ever at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Virginia is 8-51 overall in games played at Clemson, S.C. including a mark of 6-39 in games played at the Tigers’ Kingsmore Stadium. UVa has only won three at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium since the 1974 season.

VIRGINIA’S POWERFUL ONE-TWO NEWCOMER PUNCH: Virginia’s first-year duo of Sean Doolittle and Brandon Guyer have provided some immediate power to the Cavaliers’ lineup. Doolittle has hit eight home runs and Guyer has hit a pair of home runs this season. The duo has combined for 10 of UVa’s 25 home runs on the year.

SCORE ON HIM IF YOU CAN: Virginia’s first-year pitcher Robert Poutier have been very difficult for opponents to get a hit off of, and even harder to score a run off of. In fact, Poutier has tossed 31.0 innings and allowed just one run on 16 hits while striking out 19 batters.

HE’S GOING THE DISTANCE: Virginia’s Mike Ballard pitched a complete game in UVa’s 4-1 victory over Maryland on March 18th to became the second Cavalier to pitch a complete game this year. Virginia’s Robert Poutier became the first UVa player to pitch a complete game this season after tossing an 8-0 complete game shutout against Longwood on March 8th. Here’s a look at the Cavaliers who have gone the distance this season:

Name		Opponent	Result	DateRobert Poutier	Longwood	W, 8-0	3/8Mike Ballard	Maryland	W, 4-1	3/19