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April 12, 2006
Game #37
Apr. 12, 2006
#17 Virginia (27-9) vs. Longwood (18-18), 7 p.m.
UVa LHP: Pat McAnaney (5-1, 3.12 ERA)
Longwood RHP: Brian McCullough (4-2, 3.20 ERA)
Davenport Field
Charlottesville, Va.
Gametracker
The game can be heard on WINA 1070 AM and via the internet at www.virginiasports.com.
#17 VIRGINIA BEGINS FIVE-GAME HOMESTAND BY HOSTING LONGWOOD
No. 17 Virginia returns home after a seven-game road swing to host Longwood Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WINA 1070 AM. Virginia begins a five-game homestand with Longwood, Boston College and VMI visiting Davenport Field in the next week. The Cavaliers are coming off a series win at Duke over the weekend.
SCOUTING LONGWOOD
The Lancers (18-18) fell at George Mason, 4-3, Tuesday afternoon. Catcher Jon Quigley led the Lancers going 3-for-5 with a run scored against the Patriots. Longwood is in its third year of NCAA Division I reclassification and competes as an Independent. Longwood sends RHP Brian McCullough (4-2, 3.20 ERA) to the mound against the Cavaliers. McCullough has 65 strikeouts in 70.1 innings while holding opponents to a .239 batting average. As a team, the Lancers hit .305 and have a posted a 4.37 team ERA. Center fielder Tyler Ames leads the team with a .370 batting clip with a team-high 32 runs. Designated hitter Tyler Childress hits .356 producing 12 doubles, three home runs on 47 hits and a team-high 32 RBI. Third baseman Zach Zigrang is hitting .362 with a team-high 18 extra-base hits (13 doubles, 4 HRs, 1 triple) and 31 RBIs.
SERIES VS. LONGWOOD
Virginia leads the all-time series with Longwood, 7-2. The Cavaliers won both meetings with the Lancers last season, 8-0, and 5-1. Uva head coach Brian O’Connor is 2-0 against Longwood all-time.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS
Virginia improved to 27-9 on the season after going 3-1 last week. The Cavaliers also moved to 8-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which puts UVa in a tie for third in the Coastal Division. Virginia earned its fifth shutout of the season when LHP Pat McAnaney, Michael Schwimer and Casey Lambert combined for a five-hit shutout in a 5-0 win at Richmond … The Cavaliers won their first road series of the season when UVa took two of three games at Duke. After dropping the first game of the series, 4-3, the Cavs bounced back to win, 7-3 Saturday, and 11-3 Sunday … On the week, UVa’s pitching staff posted a 2.55 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. The staff held opponents to a .215 batting average… The Cavaliers are hitting .335 as a team. Virginia’s pitching staff has posted a 2.63 ERA through 36 games while holding opponents to a .212 batting average … UVa pitchers have struck out 320 batters in 322 innings while allowing only 92 walks … UVa head coach Brian O’Connor improved to 112-44 all-time and 40-27 in the ACC in just his third season at UVa … UVa is 19-2 at home this season … Six different Cavaliers have at least 40 hits while five different UVa players have at least 25 RBIs … Seven of the 13 pitchers used by the Cavaliers have opponent batting averages less than .200.
HOOS IN THE POLLS
Virginia ranks in the Top 25 in college baseball polls for the fourth straight week. The Cavaliers moved up one spot to No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and remained No. 20 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll. UVa is 19th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) Poll. SEBaseball.com has UVa as the 17th best team in the nation, while the Hoos are 16th in the Rosenblattreport.com poll. Seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams are ranked this week in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and the Collegiate Baseball Poll.
HOO NOTES
– Freshman shortstop Greg Miclat hit .538 last week going 7-for-13 with 3 RBIs and 3 Runs at the plate in helping UVa to a 3-1 week and an ACC series win at Duke. He slugged .615 and had a .571 on-base percentage. Defensively, the freshman shortstop fielded 1.000 with two putouts and 15 assists. In the Duke series, Miclat hit .667 (6-for-9) with two runs and three RBI. Miclat is hitting. 331 through 36 games and leads the team with 15 stolen bases in 17 attempts.
– Freshman second baseman David Adams hit his team-leading fifth home run in the Duke series finale. Adams is fourth on the team hitting .355. He has a team-high 50 hits with 12 extra-base hits (five doubles, two triples, five home runs) and ranks second in RBI (34).
– Freshman right-handed pitcher Jacob Thompson matched a career-high with eight strikeouts in eight innings to earn his sixth win of the season, which leads the pitching staff. The freshman right-hander from Danville, Va. scattered seven hits. He retired 11 of the last 15 batters he faced. On the season, Thompson is 6-1 in nine starts with a 2.64 ERA. Opponents are hitting .198 against him while he has 48 strikeouts in 58 innings.
– Junior outfielder Brandon Marsh continues to lead UVa hitting .431 (47-of-109). He hit his 8th double of the season against Duke.
– Sophomores LHP Pat McAnaney, RHP Michael Schwimer and junior Casey Lambert combined for Virginia’s fifth shutout of the season in UVa’s 5-0 win at Richmond. The three held the Spiders to five hits … Sophomore RHP Michael Schwimer made three appearances for the Hoos last week and struck out nine in five innings.
– Senior lefty Mike Ballard improved to 5-2 on the season after picking up the win at Duke in the series finale. Ballard held the Blue Devils to three runs in eight innings and scattered six hits. He added four strikeouts.
– Sophomore LHP Sean Doolittle struck out eight in 5.1 innings at Duke.
– First Baseman Sean Doolittle and Utility Tom Hagan have walked a combined 58 times. Doolittle ranks second in the ACC with 34 base on balls and has a .450 on-base percentage. Hagan ranks among the top in the league with 23 walks. His on-base percentage is .500.
UP NEXT
Virginia continues its homestand when the Cavaliers host Boston College this weekend for a three-game ACC series. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday’s game is 4 p.m. and the Sunday finale is 1 p.m. All three games can be heard on WINA 1070 AM and via the internet at www.virginiasports.com.