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April 5, 2007
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 3 Virginia baseball team returns to Davenport Field this weekend, playing host to Duke in a three-game series. The teams will play at 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Cavaliers are 17-1 this year in the friendly confines of Davenport Field.
Virginia moved up to No. 3 this week in the Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. The ranking is the Cavaliers’ highest ever, topping the No. 4 mark earned earlier this year from Baseball America. Virginia also is ranked No. 5 by the NCBWA and No. 6 by Collegiate Baseball.
Virginia is 27-6 overall and 8-4 in the ACC after sweeping Virginia Tech last weekend in Blacksburg, then falling at VMI in non-conference play Tuesday. The Cavaliers are tied for first in the ACC Coastal Division with North Carolina and Georgia Tech.
Virginia owns the ACC’s lowest ERA at 2.44. Jacob Thompson (Danville, Va.) leads the league in ERA at 1.75, while Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) is 10th at 2.74. They are scheduled to start Friday and Sunday, respectively, while Matt Packer (Germantown, Tenn.) is set to take the mound Saturday.
Offensively, Virginia is second in the ACC with a .342 batting average. Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) is third in the league with a .443 average, while Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.) is fourth (.409).
The Blue Devils are 21-11 overall and 2-10 in the ACC after dropping two of three to then-No. 1 Florida State last weekend and winning 17-12 at Davidson Tuesday. Jimmy Gallagher leads the team with a .370 batting average, while Nate Freiman is hitting .359. The Blue Devils are hitting .319 as a team but just .241 in ACC play.
Duke boasts a 3.99 team ERA, and has two starting pitchers – Tony Bajoczky (2.68) and Alex Hassan (2.86) with an ERA under 3.00. Bajoczky owns wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech this season.
Last year, the Cavaliers took two of three games in Durham. Duke’s Adam Murray singled in the bottom of the ninth in the first game to bring home the winning run in the Blue Devils’ 4-3 win, but Virginia responded by taking the final two games by 7-3 and 11-3 counts to win the series.
Virginia travels to VCU Tuesday for a 7 p.m. non-conference game.