No. 1 Wahoos Prepare For Two Midweek Matchups
Story Links
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (12-3, 2-1 ACC)
Probable Starting Pitchers
Tue. – RHP Will Roberts (1-0, 5.79 ERA)
Wed. – RHP Branden Kline (0-0, 4.66 ERA)
WILLIAM AND MARY TRIBE (9-5, 0-0 CAA)
Probable Starting Pitcher
LHP Cole Shain (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
JAMES MADISON DUKES (4-8, 0-0 CAA)
Probable Starting Pitcher
LHP Alex Valadja (0-1, 15.00 ERA)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia baseball team will play two midweek games this week. UVa will play host to William and Mary at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Davenport Field and travel to James Madison at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Because of the John Mayer concert at John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday night, parking for baseball and men’s lacrosse fans is restricted to the Cage lots. Overflow parking will be available at the Emmet-Ivy Garage.
Live statistics for both games will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The Wednesday game will be part of JMU’s premium live video package and is available at JMUSports.com.
Virginia (12-3, 2-1 ACC) posted a 3-1 record last week with a midweek win at William and Mary (12-6) and a 2-1 ACC series win at Florida State. It marked Virginia’s first-ever series win against the Seminoles. For the fourth-consecutive week, Virginia is the No. 1-ranked team in the Baseball America and Rivals.com polls. UVa also is ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA poll this week for the first time ever.
Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.) had an impressive week, going 9-for-17 (.529), including 8-for-13 with three home runs in the series at FSU. For his efforts, he was named the ACC Player of the Week. For the season, he is batting .424, which is tied for ninth in the ACC with Steven Proscia (So., Suffern, N.Y.), who hit .471 (8-for-17) last week.
Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) also hit well last week, going 7-for-16 (.438) in the four contests. The Cavaliers’ freshman tandem of Reed Gragnani (Richmond, Va.) and Stephen Bruno (Audubon, N.J.) made a big impact at the bottom of the lineup, combining to go 7-for-16 (.438) with four RBI and five runs.
William and Mary (9-5) swept a three-game series from Quinnipiac over the weekend. The Tribe’s pitching staff has been especially stout this season, with four shutouts already. W&M blanked North Carolina, 3-0, last Tuesday. The starting pitcher in that contest, Cole Shain, is slated to start Tuesday against the Cavaliers. Stephen Arcure and Tadd Bower lead the Tribe with .352 batting averages. The Tribe is batting .304 and has a 3.88 team ERA.
James Madison (4-8), the preseason CAA favorite, has just returned home from its spring break trip, going 3-5 in Florida as the Dukes faced North Florida, Alcorn State, Jacksonville, Stetson and Illinois State. Matt Browning paces JMU with a .413 batting average, while Matt Townsend is hitting .356. JMU is hitting .300 as a team and has a 9.74 team ERA. The Dukes will play host to Liberty Tuesday before the Cavaliers visit on Wednesday.
UVa holds a 66-29-2 edge in the all-time series with William and Mary after UVa’s 12-6 win last Wednesday in Williamsburg. In that contest, UVa rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the sixth inning and scored 11 times in its final four trips to the plate for the victory.
Virginia and James Madison are meeting for the first time since 2007. The teams were scheduled to meet March 3 in Charlottesville, but the game was rained out and postponed until April 6. Virginia holds a 30-25 edge in the all-time series.
Virginia opens its ACC home schedule this weekend, playing host to Boston College. The teams are slated to play at 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.