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May 10, 2007
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The third-ranked Virginia baseball team plays host to North Carolina State this weekend in ACC play at Davenport Field. The action kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, and the teams also will play at 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Saturday game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m., but has been moved up to a 6 p.m. start time to accommodate a post-game fireworks show. All three games will be webcast on ACC Select.
Virginia (38-10, 16-7 ACC) is coming off a 10-day break for final exams and holds a half-game lead over North Carolina for first place in the ACC Coastal Division standings. The Cavaliers entered the break on a high note, as they knocked off VCU, 5-4, May 1 on a Tyler Cannon (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) walkoff single to score Tim Henry (Fairfield, Conn.) in the bottom of the ninth inning.
At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, the Cavaliers will hold Senior Day festivities to honor the team’s eight seniors – Henry, Ryan Hudson (Tampa, Fla.), Casey Lambert (Harrisonburg, Va.), Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.), Mike Mitchell (Chesapeake, Va.), John Scaglione (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Beau Seabury (Mount Vernon, Wash.) and Alex Smith (Virginia Beach, Va.).
This class holds the distinction of owning the most wins over a four-year span in school history. They already own 170 wins (44-2004, 41-2005, 47-2006, 38-2007), topping the 2006 class, which had 161 victories from 2003-06.
North Carolina State (31-17, 12-12 ACC) comes to town after an 8-4 loss Wednesday at UNC-Wilmington. The Wolfpack are led on the mound by the one-two punch of starting pitchers Eric Surkamp (4-2, 2.72) and Andrew Brackman (6-4, 3.65), who are scheduled to start Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Eryk McConnell has been nasty out of the bullpen, with a 1.56 ERA and eight saves.
The Wolfpack is hitting .294 as a team, led by Dallas Poulk’s .372 mark. Mike Roskopf has ripped a team-best 10 home runs while driving in 34 runs.
N.C. State holds a 112-68 edge in the all-time series with Virginia. The Wolfpack won all four meetings with the Cavaliers last year with a three-game sweep in Raleigh and a 4-3 win at the ACC Tournament.
Tickets are still available for the game and are $6 for adults and $4 for youth, seniors, faculty and staff. They may be purchased by calling the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 542-8821 or by logging on to virginiasports.com. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets early as large crowds are anticipated for the series.