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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia baseball team opens ACC play this weekend, traveling to North Carolina State for a three-game series at Doak Field at Dail Park. The series begins with a 3 p.m. game Friday and continues at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
All three games will be webcast on ACC Select at accselect.com.
The Cavaliers, ranked as high as No. 12 nationally, come in at 10-0 after sweeping their season-opening 10-game homestand. They were scheduled to open their road schedule at VMI Tuesday but were rained out.
Pitching again will prominently figure in the series. The Friday opener features two 2007 U.S. National Team pitchers, as Virginia’s Jacob Thompson (Jr., Danville, Va.) matches up with NC State’s Eric Surkamp. Pat McAnaney (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) and Andrew Carraway (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) will start for Virginia on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, while NC State has yet to announce its Saturday and Sunday starters.
While Virginia’s pitching has been tough with a 1.39 ERA through 10 games, the offense hasn’t been too shabby either. Cavalier hitters are batting .383 this year and the team has posted eight straight games with 11 or more hits. Virginia also scored 12 or more runs in five of its 10 games.
NC State is 6-2 after home midweek wins over Valparaiso and North Carolina A&T. Marcus Jones leads the team with a .409 batting average, while Nick Stanley stands at .381.
The two teams split four games last season. The Wolfpack won two of three in Charlottesville, but the Cavaliers came back to earn a 6-1 win in the opening game of the ACC tournament.
Virginia returns home for two midweek games next week, battling Radford Tuesday and Navy Wednesday. Both games start at 4 p.m.