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May 31, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-seeded Virginia baseball team starts NCAA tournament play at 4 p.m. Friday, batting No. 4-seed Lafayette in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional at Davenport Field. The game is the first of two Friday, with second-seeded Rutgers battling No. 3-seed Oregon State in the nightcap at 8 p.m.
The losers of the Friday games play at 1 p.m. Saturday with the winners meeting at 6 p.m. Games also are scheduled for 1 and 6 p.m. Sunday. If a seventh game is needed, it will be played at 6 p.m. Monday.
A limited number of single-game tickets for the regional are on sale at www.virginiasports.com and also will be available through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office beginning at 9 a.m. Friday. Fans may call 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 434-924-UVA1 (8821) to order tickets or visit the ticket office in Bryant Hall.
Single-game reserved tickets are $12, while general admission seats are $8. All seating in the grandstand is reserved. General admission seating is on the left field hillside and in the bleachers beyond the left field fence. The reserved tickets became available after the visiting tournament schools did not use their full allotment.
Virginia (43-14) enters the tournament after going 2-1 last week at the ACC Championship, racking up wins over N.C. State and Georgia Tech before dropping a 5-0 decision to North Carolina. The matchup with Lafayette (33-18) features two of the top base-stealing teams in the nation. Lafayette, winners of the Patriot League tournament, is second in the country with 2.7 steals per game, while Virginia is not far behind in ninth with 2.28 steals per game. Lafayette’s James Conrad has 48 stolen bases to rank third nationally.
The Cavaliers and Leopards have not met since 1989, and Virginia holds a 20-9 series edge after winning the last meeting, 9-3, March 22, 1989, in Charlottesville.
Cavaliers Jacob Thompson (Danville, Va.) and Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) were named first- and third-team All-Americans, respectively, Wednesday by Louisville Slugger. Thompson is the fourth first-team All-American in school history, joining Brian Buchanan (1994), Seth Greisinger (1996) and Joe Koshansky (2004).
The diverse field in the regional also features Big East tournament champion Rutgers (41-19), who boasts first-team All-American Todd Frazier at shortstop. Frazier is hitting .379 this season and has swatted 22 home runs, ranking fourth nationally, while driving in 69 runs.
Oregon State (38-17) is the reigning national champion after capturing the program’s first national title in 2006. The Beavers have Third-Team All-America catcher Mitch Canham in addition to a solid pitching staff and one of the best defensive teams in the country with a .978 fielding percentage – tied with Arizona State for first nationally.
All-tournament parking passes for the University Hall or John Paul Jones Arena lots are available in advance for $10 and can be purchased through the ticket office. Game-day parking is $5 per day.
Please note on Friday parking will be available in all lots beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, all lots will be open the entire day. If there is a game Monday, all lots will open at 1 p.m.
All regional ticket books will be available for pickup from Bryant Hall beginning Thursday and up until noon Friday. They will then be available at the Davenport Field ticket windows beginning two hours prior to the first game Friday.
All-tournament parking passes can be picked up at the ticket office until noon Friday. All unclaimed parking passes may be claimed at the will call window at the main entrance to Davenport Field.
Charlottesville Regional Schedule
Friday, June 1
Game 1: Virginia vs. Lafayette, 4 p.m.
Game 2: Rutgers vs. Oregon State, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 2
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 3
Game 5: Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m.
Monday, June 4 (if necessary)
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 6 p.m.