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April 27, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The third-ranked Virginia baseball team continues its nine-game homestand this weekend, playing host to Maryland in a three-game ACC series at Davenport Field. The series kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, then continues at 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be webcast on ACC Select.
Virginia (34-10, 13-7 ACC) lost a 14-inning marathon to James Madison Wednesday night, marking the longest game in time (4:39) and innings in Davenport Field history. It also was Virginia’s longest game since a 17-inning contest last season at the College of Charleston.
The Cavaliers have been successful in ACC series this year, winning five of their seven league series thus far. They have lost just one series – the opening series of the season at Wake Forest. They also split two games against Georgia Tech in a rain-shortened series.
Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.), Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) and Jacob Thompson (Danville, Va.) were named to the 50-man Dick Howser Trophy Watch List on Thursday. The award, presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, honors the top player of the nation and is considered one of the premier awards in college baseball. Virginia and Texas were the lone teams to have three student-athletes named to the list.
Casey Lambert (Harrisonburg, Va.) had two saves last week to give him nine this year and 41 for his career. He is now tied for the ACC saves record with Thad Chrisman (1992-95) of North Carolina and is among the top six in NCAA history. UC Irvine’s Blair Erickson broke the NCAA saves record earlier this year and now has 51 career saves.
Maryland (23-21, 7-14) comes to Charlottesville after suffering a 13-2 loss Tuesday at West Virginia. Dan Benick leads the Terrapins with a .325 batting average, while AJ Casario is right behind at .320. The Terrapins are batting .290 as a team.
On the mound, Casey Baron (3.66) has the top ERA on the starting staff, while Brett Cecil (2.86, 7 saves) anchors the bulllpen. The Terps have a 4.91 team ERA. Maryland is led by seventh-year head coach Terry Rupp, who is 167-209 at the school and 380-289 in 12 years as a head coach.
Virginia leads the overall series, 83-73-1, after sweeping the Terps last year and has won 12-consecutive games dating back to 2002. Most of the games during the streak have been close, with Virginia winning by three or fewer in nine of those 12 games.
Virginia plays VCU at 7 p.m. Wednesday before taking a 10-day break for final exams.