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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team welcomes Rhode Island to Davenport Field this weekend for a three-game series. The teams are scheduled to play at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Hot chocolate and coffee will be free to all fans for each game during the series.

Live statistics for all three games will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

UVa (3-1) opened its 2010 home schedule Wednesday with a 5-2 victory over George Washington. The Cavaliers built a 5-0 lead through four innings, then cruised to the victory from there.

At the plate, Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) led UVa with three hits. Virginia finished with 10 hits as a team, and UVa once again showed its offensive balance as eight of the Cavaliers’ nine starters recorded at least one hit.

On the mound, Will Roberts (So., Richmond, Va.) pitched 5.2 strong innings to earn the win, while four UVa relievers combined to shut out the Colonials over the final 3.1 innings.

Virginia is 1-0 in weekend series this season after winning two of three games at then-No. 11 East Carolina last week. The Cavaliers have won 14 straight non-conference weekend series (three games or more) and have not lost a non-league series since 2003 at Auburn. UVa has posted a winning record in 19 straight non-conference weekends, dating to a split with Penn State in 2004.

Virginia is slated to start left-hander Danny Hultzen (So., Bethesda, Md.) Friday, right-hander Robert Morey (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) Saturday and righty Cody Winiarski (Jr., Franksville, Wis.) Sunday. URI will counter with RHP Tim Boyce Friday. The Rams have yet to announce starting pitchers for Saturday or Sunday.

In its season opener last week, Rhode Island (0-3) was swept in a weekend series at Mississippi State. In the first game, URI held an 8-7 ninth-inning lead before the Bulldogs rallied for the win.

The Rams went 37-20-1 last year and were considered by many pundits as the top team left out of the NCAA Tournament. URI had big non-conference wins at Miami (Fla.), NC State and Oklahoma State last year, and the Rams also scored a neutral-site victory against Ohio State. URI returns seven of its eight position starters from that team.

Virginia holds a 7-0 edge in the all-time series against Rhode Island, although the programs have not met since 1999 when UVa swept a three-game set in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers continue their nine-game homestand at 4 p.m. Tuesday when they play host to James Madison.

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