No. 10 Cavaliers Welcome Maryland This Weekend
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Rivals Virginia and Maryland face off in ACC baseball action this weekend at Davenport Field. The three-game series between the 10th-ranked Cavaliers and Terrapins starts at 7 p.m. Friday, with 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday contests set to follow.
WINA 1070-AM will have the broadcast of all three games. This broadcast also will be available at VirginiaSports.com through V Pass. The three games will be webcast by ACC Select.
Virginia (24-4, 6-4 ACC) goes into the weekend with back-to-back midweek wins in tow after downing Radford (12-2) and Norfolk State (6-2). Maryland (13-15, 3-9) also picked up a pair of midweek wins, winning at Navy (7-3) and against Maryland-Eastern Shore (12-3).
The Cavaliers have played their share of close games lately. Virginia’s last five ACC games each have been determined by three runs or fewer. UVa has suffered four ACC defeats this year, with three coming by one run and the other by two. All four came to top-five teams (Miami, North Carolina).
Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) leads the Cavaliers with a .419 batting average, which ranks third in the ACC. Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) is not far behind at .411, fifth in the conference. UVa continues to lead the conference in hitting with a .360 batting average and entered the week with the seventh-best batting average in the country.
The arms have been tough too, with an ACC-best 2.56 ERA. The Cavaliers rank third in the country in ERA, behind only Texas (2.06) and Arizona State (2.37). UVa also stands third nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.04) and fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0).
A.J. Casario paces the Terrapins with a .373 batting average, while Mike Murphy is batting .326. Maryland has a .277 team batting average and a 5.85 team ERA.
The scheduled pitching matchups for the weekend:
Friday: LHP Danny Hultzen (UVa) vs. RHP Brett Harman (UM)
Saturday: RHP Andrew Carraway (UVa) vs. Scott Swinson (UM)
Sunday: RHP Tyler Wilson (UVa) vs. LHP Matt Fullerton (UM)
Virginia leads the all-time series, 96-72-1. The win total is Virginia’s second most against any school (VMI, 99). The Cavaliers swept a three-game series at Maryland last year and have won 18 straight against the Terrapins dating to April 6, 2002, in College Park. UVa has taken 11 straight over Maryland in Charlottesville, dating to April 25, 1999.
Friday is Hometown Heroes Day at the park, with $4 tickets available to Police, Fire and EMS personnel at the gate. Saturday is UVa Health Systems Day, with $4 tickets available for UVa Health Systems employees. Sunday is Family Day (four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for $32). The $10,000 toss promotion will be held during the Friday and Sunday games, with fans having an opportunity to win $10,000.