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Cavaliers Face Marshall, Canisius in Midweek Tilts
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Coming off a water-logged weekend against Florida State, the Virginia baseball team gets back into play at Davenport Field this week, welcoming Marshall and Canisius for midweek games. The Cavaliers and Thundering Herd play at 4 p.m. Tuesday, while the Golden Griffins come to town for a 4 p.m. Wednesday game.
Virginia, off to its best start in school history, went 3-0 last week to bump its record to 15-0. The Cavaliers’ 15-game winning streak is the longest active streak in the nation, and Virginia is the lone undefeated team remaining this year in Division I.
UVa is ranked as high as No. 7 nationally this week by Collegiate Baseball. The Cavaliers also are ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and No. 21 by the NCBWA and entered the Baseball America and Rivals.com polls at No. 23 this week.
Virginia scored 10 or more runs in all three games last week, including 15 against then-No. 14 Florida State. The team is batting .400 overall, led by Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) who is hitting .483 and is riding a 17-game hitting streak which dates to last season. Five Cavaliers are hitting at or above .400 Grovatt, Steven Proscia (.467), Jarrett Parker (.459), Tyler Cannon (.407) and Jared King (.400).
The pitching remains a strong point as well, with the team accumulating a 1.87 earned run average through 15 games. UVa pitchers have allowed only 89 hits in 135 innings while striking out 160 and walking just 44. Opponents are hitting .185 against the UVa staff.
Marshall (7-8) comes to Virginia after winning two of three against Youngstown State over the weekend. Ben Jurevicius paces the Herd with a .400 batting average, while Thor Meeks and Nate Lape each have four home runs, while Marshall has swatted 18 homers as a team. The team is hitting .261 overall and has a 4.51 team ERA.
Canisius is 6-7 going into its game at VCU on Tuesday. The Griffs split a four-game series at Morehead State over the weekend. Kevin Mailloux leads the team with a .400 batting average, while Connor Burke (.400) and Steve McQuail (.395) are right behind. Canisius is batting .312 as a team and has a team ERA of 9.56.
Virginia holds an 8-0 edge in the series with Marshall. The teams last met in 2006, a 12-0 Cavaliers’ win at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers and Griffs will be meeting for the first time in baseball.
Virginia returns to ACC competition this weekend, playing Miami in a three-game series. The teams will face off at 6 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.