No. 16 Baseball Travels to No. 1 Miami This Weekend
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The No. 16 Virginia baseball team makes its final road trip of the 2008 regular season this weekend as it ventures to No. 1-ranked Miami for a three-game series at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, Fla. The teams play at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon Sunday.
The Saturday and Sunday games will be televised regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast, while the Friday and Sunday games will be webcast by ACC Select.
Virginia is 32-12 overall and 13-8 in the ACC after splitting its midweek games this week. Tuesday, the Cavaliers downed Georgetown, 9-1. Wednesday, the Cavaliers’ rally fell just short in a 6-5 loss to William and Mary.
Miami is 33-5 overall and 17-2 in the ACC entering the weekend. The Hurricanes lost their lone midweek game this week, a 6-3 decision Wednesday night at home against Florida International. Miami took two of three at No. 2 Florida State last weekend.
Virginia is playing its first games against a No. 1-ranked team since May 12-14, 2006, when the Cavaliers won two of three at home against then-No. 1 North Carolina. Virginia’s last road series against a No. 1-ranked team was earlier in 2006 when UVa lost two of three at then-No. 1 Georgia Tech.
The scheduled starting pitchers for the weekend are:
Friday: Virginia LHP Pat McAnaney (4-1, 2.17 ERA) vs. Miami LHP Chris Hernandez (6-0, 3.16)
Saturday: Virginia RHP Jacob Thompson (5-2, 3.98) vs. Miami LHP Eric Erickson (6-0, 3.28)
Sunday: RHP Andrew Carraway (3-2, 2.82) vs. Miami RHP Enrique Garcia (2-1, 6.18)
The weekend games serve as a homecoming for two Virginia players, as David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) and Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) each hail from just outside of Coral Gables.
Miami holds an 11-8 edge in the all-time series. The Cavaliers won two of three last year in Charlottesville and also took of three in their last visit to Coral Gables. Virginia is 4-6 all-time at Miami.
Virginia is back at Davenport Field at 6 p.m. Tuesday to battle Mount Saint Mary’s before taking a nine-day break for final exams.