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No. 1 Cavaliers Take on Towson in Two-Game Midweek Series
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia baseball team will battle the Towson Tigers in a two-game midweek series this week at Davenport Field, with 5 p.m. contests Tuesday and Wednesday. A live audio broadcast of both games will be available with a V Pass subscription at VirginiaSports.com. Live statistics for both games also will be featured on VirginiaSports.com.
Tuesday is a $2 Tuesday at Davenport Field. Fans can purchase $2 hot dogs and $2 sodas all game long.
For the sixth-consecutive week, Virginia (20-4, 7-2 ACC) is ranked No. 1 nationally by Baseball America and Rivals.com.
On the mound, Virginia is slated to start RHP Branden Kline (Fr., Frederick, Md.) Tuesday and RHP Will Roberts Wednesday. Towson has yet to announce its starters for the series.
The Cavaliers won three of its four games last week. Virginia started the week with a 6-3 win over Marshall before taking two of three games over the weekend against Clemson, who was ranked as high as No. 5 nationally. It marked the Cavaliers’ third straight ACC series win to start the season – UVa’s best-ever ACC start.
Virginia is tied for second in the ACC with a .342 team batting average. Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) was the Cavaliers’ top hitter last week, going 9-for-16 (.563) as he extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games. His hit streak is tied for the ninth-longest current streak in the nation.
Kenny Swab (Jr., Kernersville, N.C.) hit two home runs in the Clemson series as UVa swatted five long balls against the Tigers.
The Cavaliers’ pitching staff ranks third in the ACC with a 3.36 team ERA. Virginia’s pitchers allowed just one extra-base hit over the weekend against Clemson.
UVa also ranks second in the ACC with a .978 fielding percentage, including a league-best .981 mark in league contests.
Towson is 5-18 this season after dropping two of three games at UNC Wilmington last weekend. The Tigers are no strangers to ranked foes this year. Towson batted Arizona State in a four-game weekend series earlier this season in Tempe, with the Sun Devils prevailing in all four contests. Towson also suffered an 8-2 loss to then-No. 25 Elon to start the season.
First baseman Steve Yarsinsky is the Tigers’ hottest hitter, with a .362 batting average and a 14-game hitting streak. He also leads the Tigers with five home runs and is tied for the team lead with 17 RBI. Chris Wychock is hitting .341, while Kevin Collins is batting .319.
Virginia holds an 8-2 lead in the series with Towson. UVa defeated the Tigers 13-4 and 7-5 last season in Charlottesville.
Virginia heads to NC State this weekend for a three-game ACC series. The series begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with 6:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday games set to follow.