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April 14, 2006
Games #38-40
Apr. 14-16, 2006
#17 Virginia (28-9, 8-7 ACC) vs. Boston College (18-5-1, 4-11 ACC)
Davenport Field
Charlottesville, Va.
Apr. 14, 7 p.m.
Virginia – LHP Sean Doolittle (5-1, 2.47 ERA)
BC – LHP Nate Jeanes (1-3, 6.30 ERA)
Gametracker 1
Sat. Apr. 15, 4 p.m.
Virginia – RHP Jacob Thompson (6-1, 2.64 ERA)
BC- RHP Dan Houston (2-3, 4.12 ERA)
Gametracker 2
Sun. Apr. 16, 1 p.m.
Virginia – LHP Mike Ballard (5-2, 2.68 ERA
BC – RHP Terry Doyle (2-3, 2.83 ERA)
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Fans can also listen all three games locally on WINA AM 1070 or via the internet at www.virginiasports.com.
#17 UVA HOSTS ACC NEWCOMER BOSTON COLLEGE
No. 17 Virginia continues its five-game homestand by hosting Atlantic Coast Conference newcomer Boston College Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Game times are 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. UVa is coming off a 6-4 win at home against Longwood. Junior lefty Casey Lambert picked up his fifth save while Brandon Marsh drove in the go-ahead run in a three-run eighth inning. Virginia looks to continue its winning ways in league play after taking a series at Duke last weekend. UVa will send the rotation of LHP Sean Doolittle (5-1, 2.47 ERA), RHP Jacob Thompson (6-1, 2.64 ERA) and Mike Ballard (5-2, 2.68 ERA) to the mound.
SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
The Eagles (18-15-1, 4-11 ACC) are coming off a 10-0 win against Harvard Tuesday, capping off a stretch that saw Boston College play six games in six days. Left fielder Jared McGuire led BC against Harvard going 4-for-5 with two RBI. Third baseman Eric Campbell and designated hitter Jeff Ruiz each were 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs while three Eagle pitchers combined for a one-hitter. Boston College is led by right fielder Johnny Ayers, who has a team-high 51 hits while batting .375. He has 15 RBIs and eight doubles for a team-high 38 runs scored. First baseman Dave Preziosi hits .329 with 24 RBIs on 47 hits. BC is hitting .286 and has compiled a 4.60 team ERA. The Eagles lead the ACC in stolen bases (73-of-92).
SERIES VS. BOSTON COLLEGE
This will be the first meeting between Virginia and Boston College. As an assistant coach at Notre Dame, Brian O’Connor compiled a 16-5 record against the Eagles.
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.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS
Virginia improved to 28-9 after rallying to defeat Longwood, 6-4. The Cavaliers also are 8-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which puts UVa in a tie for third in the Coastal Division. Juniors Tim Henry and Brandon Marsh each had two hits for UVa, which pounded out 13 hits against Longwood … 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 … The Cavaliers are hitting .336 as a team which puts them 9th nationally. Virginia’s pitching staff has posted a 2.66 ERA through 37 games while holding opponents to a .213 batting average. Virginia is second nationally in ERA … UVa pitchers have struck out 330 batters in 331 innings while only walking 93 batters … UVa head coach Brian O’Connor improved to 113-44 all-time and is 40-27 in the ACC in just his third season at UVa … UVa is 20-2 at home this season and 5-1 in home ACC games … Six different Cavaliers have at least 40 hits while five different UVa players have at least 25 RBIs … Six of the 13 pitchers used by the Cavaliers have opponent batting averages less than .200.
HOO NOTES
– Freshman shortstop Greg Miclat enters the weekend riding a five-game hitting streak in which he is batting .471 (8-for-17) with four runs and three RBI. Miclat is the team leader in stolen bases with 15 in 17 attempts.
– Freshman second baseman David Adams hit his team-leading fifth home run in the Duke series finale. Adams 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 at Duke 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 .430. He hit his 8th double of the season against Duke. His 49 hits are second on the team.
– Sophomore LHP Pat McAnaney matched a season-high seven strikeouts in six innings against Longwood.
– 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.
– Junior center fielder Tim Henry currently has a 10-game hitting streak. During the streak, Henry is 12-for-35 (.343) with six runs, eight RBIs and his first career home run.
– Senior utility Tom Hagan has been the hottest Cavalier lately. In the last 10 games, Hagan has gone 15-for-35 with 12 runs and nine RBI. He’s slugged .543 and owned a .524 on-base percentage.
– Junior closer Casey Lambert logged his fifth save of the season against Longwood. In 15 appearances, he is 2-2 with the five saves, which brings his career total to 27 saves.
TOP 10 CAVS
Virginia is the only team in the nation ranked in the top 10 nationally in team pitching and team batting average. UVa started the week second nationally in team ERA (2.64 ERA) and ninth nationally in team batting average (.335). The Cavaliers bring a 2.66 team ERA and .336 team batting average into this weekend’s series with Boston Colege. In other national statistical categories, the Cavaliers are 10th in strikeout per nine innings (8.9), 15th in WL PCT (.750) and 18th in scoring (8.3 runs per game). Individually, Beau Seabury is 10th nationally in sacrifice hits (10). Sean Doolittle is 14th in drawing walks (0.94 per game) and Brandon Marsh ranks 16th nationally in batting average (.431).
CAVALIERS IN THE ACC
Virginia currently sits in a tie for third place with Georgia Tech (8-7) in the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division. Virginia is 8-7 in the conference heading into a three-game series with ACC Atlantic Division memeber Boston College at home this weekend. Miami (9-6) and North Carolina are tied for first place in the division (9-6).
UP NEXT
Virginia wraps up its brief homestand Tuesday by hosting VMI at 7 p.m. at Davenport Field.