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April 18, 2006
Game #41
Apr. 18, 2006
#17 Virginia (31-9) vs. VMI (24-13)
Davenport Field
Charlottesville, Va.
Apr. 18, 7 p.m.
Virginia – RHP Andrew Carraway (0-0, 1.20 ERA)
VMI – RHP Kevin Crum (3-0, 6.55 ERA)
Gametracker 1
Gametracker 3
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Fans can also listen to the game locally on WINA AM 1070 or via the internet at www.virginiasports.com.
#17 VIRGINIA CONCLUDES HOMESTAND WITH VMI
No. 17 Virginia closes out its five-game homestand by hosting in-state foe VMI Tuesday at 7 p.m. UVa is coming off a three-game sweep of Boston College in Atlantic Coast Conference action over the weekend, 8-3, 5-4 and 5-0. Senior lefty Mike Ballard tossed Virginia’s first no-hitter since 1974 to give the Cavs the sweep. Freshman right-hander Andrew Carraway (0-0, 1.20 ERA) will make his first career start for the Cavaliers against the Keydets.
SCOUTING VMI
The Keydets (24-13) have won four of their last five games having taken a series from Radford over the weekend. VMI is second in the Big South in team batting average (.315) and fourth in team ERA (5.07 ERA). The Keydets are led by third baseman Kelly Sweppenhiser, who hits .401 with a team-high 57 hits including 12 doubles, 1 triple and five home runs for 33 RBI. First baseman Robert Crumpler is the team leader in RBIs (35) while batting .376. Six of the Keydets nine position starters hit better than .300. Freshman right-handed pitch Kevin Crum (3-0, 6.55 ERA) will start for VMI. Crum has made 12 appearances with 13 K’s in 22 innings.
SERIES VS. VMI
Virginia leads the all-time series with VMI, 32-6. UVa has won the last four meetings including a 2-1 decision last season in Charlottesville, Va. UVa head coach Brian O’Connor is 1-0 against VMI.
HOOS IN THE POLLS
Virginia ranks in the Top 25 in college baseball polls for the fifth straight week. The Cavaliers are No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll for the second straight week. UVa moved up three spots in the Collegiate Baseball Poll coming in at No. 18. UVa is 18th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) Poll. SEBaseball.com has UVa as the 18th best team in the nation, while the Hoos are 16th in the Rosenblattreport.com poll. Seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams are again ranked this week in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll while eight ACC teams are in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS
Virginia improved to 31-9 on the season after going 4-0 last week. The Cavaliers also moved to 11-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which puts UVa in a tie for second place in the Coastal Division. UVa is one of three teams in the ACC with 30 or more wins … Senior lefty Mike Ballard tossed a no-hitter in the series finale against Boston College as UVa won, 5-0. It is Virginia’s no-hitter since 1974 … Virginia registered its second sweep in ACC action this season. Third-year head coach Brian O’Connor has now swept 17 of the 33 series he has coached in at Virginia including 10 ACC series sweeps … Virginia’s pitching staff posted a 0.67 ERA in three games against Boston College. UVa pitchers struck out 15 batters in 27 innings while holding BC to a .167 batting average … Ballard tossed the sixth shutout of the season for the UVa pitching staff and first solo shutout by a pitcher. The other five were combined shutouts. It was also Ballard’s second complete game of the season and third of his career … UVa hit .295 in the series … Virginia entered the weekend series as the only team in the nation ranked in the Top 10 in the national statistics in both team ERA and batting average. UVa lowered its ERA to 2.51 and now has a .334 batting average … The no-hitter was the first that third-year head coach Brian O’Connor has ever been a part of as a coach or college player … UVa pitching coach Karl Kuhn coached his second no-hitter and caught one as a player in college. On the week, UVa hit .318 … Virginia’s pitching staff is holding opponents to a .210 batting average … UVa pitchers have struck out 345 batters in 358 innings … Five different Cavaliers have at least 50 hits while two others have at least 40 hits … Virginia also has five players with at least 30 RBIs … Eight of the 13 pitchers used by UVa have opponent batting averages under the team avg .210 including all three weekend starters (Sean Doolittle, .194; Jacob Thompson, .203; Mike Ballard, .207).
HOO NOTES
– Senior lefty Mike Ballard tossed a complete game no-hitter in finishing off a three-game sweep by the Cavaliers of Boston College in a 5-0 win. It is believed to be Virginia’s first no-hitter since the 1966 season. He finished with three strikeouts, walked two and hit one of the 31 batters he faced. Ballard retired 17 straight batters in the first 5 2/3 innings before allowing a baserunner in the sixth. It was Ballard’s second complete game of the season and third of his career.- Senior Utility Tom Hagan drove in six runs in the BC series while going 3-for-9.- Junior center fielder Tim Henry hit .412 last week going 7-for-17 with 2 RBIs and 3 Runs at the plate in helping UVa to a 4-0 week and ACC series sweep of Boston College. He slugged .647 and had a .500 on-base percentage. Henry extended his hitting streak to 10 games.- Junior outfielder Brandon Marsh hit .353 (6-for-17) on the week with two runs and two RBI. He continues to lead the team hitting .421 (53-for-126) with 31 runs scored, 19 RBI and 12 extra-base hits.- Sophomore third baseman Patrick Wingfield finished the week hitting .667 (6-for-9). He had two runs scored, two RBI and two doubles to go along with three multiple-hit games.- Sophomore left fielder Brandon Guyer also added a 6-for-15 performance in four wins last week. Guyer scored a team-high five runs, added two doubles and two RBI.- Sophomore pitcher/first baseman Sean Doolittle hit his first home run of the season in the 5-4 Saturday win over Boston College. Doolittle started game one of the series and picked up his sixth win of the season as he held BC to no earned runs through seven innings on six hits in an 8-3 win.- Freshman right-hander Jacob Thompson ran his record to 7-1 after picking up the win over Boston College in the second game of the series. Thompson held the Eagles to one earned run in five innings and struck out six.- Junior closer Casey Lambert picked up two saves last week. He saved games against Longwood and the second game of the BC series. Lambert now has six saves.- Sophomore relief pitcher Michael Schwimer made his team-high 21st appearance in Saturday’s win over BC. Schwimer appeared in three games last week. He was credited with the win over Longwood.
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 is still listed second nationally in team ERA (2.63 ERA) and ninth nationally in team batting average (.335). The Cavaliers bring a 2.51 team ERA and .334 team batting average into today’s game.
CAVALIERS IN THE ACC
Virginia moved into a second place tie with Miami in the ACC Coastal Division. North Carolina leads the Coastal Division at 12-6 while Georgia Tech is fourth at 10-8. Florida State and NC State are tied for first in the ACC Atlantic Division at 13-5 while Wake Forest is third at 12-6 and Clemson is fourth at 10-5. The top two from each division will earn the top four seeds in the 2006 ACC Tournament.
UP NEXT
Virginia heads to Miami this weekend for a three-game series.