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No. 1 Cavaliers Play Host to Wright State, Dartmouth This Weekend
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team entertains a pair of 2009 NCAA Tournament teams this weekend, as Wright State and Dartmouth visit Charlottesville. In all, five games will be contested at Davenport Field, with UVa involved in four.
Live statistics for all five games will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Here is the complete weekend schedule:
Friday, 4 p.m. – Virginia vs. Wright State
Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – Dartmouth vs. Wright State
Saturday, 3 p.m. – Virginia vs. Dartmouth
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – Virginia vs. Dartmouth
Sunday, 3 p.m. – Virginia vs. Wright State
Saturday, baseball parking will be available at the Emmet-Ivy Garage all day and in the University Hall lots after 2 p.m. Prior to 2 p.m., parking in the University Hall lots will be limited to those coming to the men’s basketball game vs. Maryland at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, baseball and lacrosse parking will be available in the University Hall, John Paul Jones Arena and Cage lots as well as the Emmet-Ivy Garage. Fans are encouraged to arrive early because large crowds are anticipated to attend both events.
Free hot chocolate and coffee will be available to all fans throughout Friday’s game as part of a season-long promotion for games played in temperatures of 45 degrees or below. With temperatures forecast to top 50 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, the free hot chocolate and coffee promotion will not be in effect for the games played on these days.
Virginia (6-1) is ranked No. 1 nationally for the second-consecutive week by Baseball America and Rivals.com. The Cavaliers were scheduled to play host to James Madison on Tuesday, but inclement weather forced the game to be moved to April 6.
UVa is coming off a strong week where the Cavaliers won all four of their games, including a three-game weekend series sweep of Rhode Island. Keith Werman (So., Vienna, Va.) went 7-for-11 (.636) during the week, while Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) was 9-for-17 (.529) with a home run and six RBI.
Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) scored a team-high six runs in the four victories, while Steven Proscia (So., Suffern, N.Y.) drove in a team-best seven runs as he pushed his season RBI total to 13, which ranks second in the ACC.
Virginia’s offense hit another gear over the weekend, scoring 43 runs, including 22 Saturday. The pitching also was strong, as UVa recorded a 2.25 ERA in the four-game span while allowing just nine runs. Virginia pitchers struck out 42 batters and walked just six in 36 innings.
Wright State is 2-5 this season and was swept in a three-game weekend series last weekend at Clemson. Each of the first two games went right down to the wire, with Clemson pulling out 4-3 and 8-6 wins Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Tigers took the finale, 12-6, on Sunday. The Raiders are the defending Horizon League champions and were picked to repeat as the 2010 champions in a vote of the league’s coaches. WSU lost to TCU, 6-3, and Texas A&M, 6-4 in 11 innings, in the 2009 Fort Worth Regional; the Raiders return four of their five all-conference selections from that team.
Dartmouth went 27-18 last year and is opening its season this weekend. The Big Green are the defending Ivy League champion and played in the Chapel Hill Regional last season, falling to North Carolina and Kansas. The Big Green is Baseball America’s preseason pick to win the Ivy League, with six of its players selected to the preseason all-conference team. Kyle Hendricks was selected the preseason Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, while Joe Sclafani was picked as the conference’s preseason player of the year.
Virginia and Wright State will be playing for the first time ever. The Cavaliers hold a 10-5 edge in the all-time series with Dartmouth, but the teams have not met since 1950.
UVa hits the road next week, traveling to William and Mary Wednesday before a weekend trip to Florida State to open ACC play. The Seminoles are ranked as high as No. 2 nationally this week.