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April 2, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 3 Virginia baseball team takes the short trip on I-64 to Lexington, Va., Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. game against VMI at the new Gray-Minor Stadium. Virginia moved up to the No. 3 position in the Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls this week, marking the highest ranking in school history.
The Cavaliers’ previous high in the polls was fourth, set earlier this season.
Virginia is 27-5 overall and 8-4 in the ACC after sweeping Virginia Tech last weekend in Blacksburg. The Cavaliers are now tied for first in the ACC Coastal Division with North Carolina.
Virginia and VMI met Feb. 27 at Davenport Field, with the Cavaliers taking a 5-3 decision. The game was tied at three before Virginia scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings to post the win. Andrew Carraway (Marietta, Ga.) earned the win in relief after tossing three shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Casey Lambert (Harrisonburg, Va.) notched the save with a perfect ninth inning. Trey Barham took the loss for VMI.
The Cavaliers own the ACC’s lowest ERA at 2.41 after holding Virginia Tech to just two earned runs over the weekend. Jacob Thompson (Danville, Va.) leads the league in ERA at 1.75, while Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) is 10th at 2.74.
Offensively, Virginia is second in the ACC with a .344 batting average. Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) is third in the league with a .441 average, while Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.) is sixth (.409) and Mike Mitchell (Chesapeake, Va.) is seventh (.388).
The Keydets are off to a solid start at 21-8. Last weekend, they swept Savannah State in a three-game series at home, as they outscored their opponents 34-6. VMI also owns two wins at Florida and a win at Auburn.
Eddie Van Es leads VMI with a .362 batting average, while A.J. Yoder is hitting .342. Robert Crumpler has been the major power force with six homers and 13 doubles.
Virginia returns home to Davenport Field at 7 p.m. Friday for the first of a three-game ACC series against Duke.