Virginia Meets Oklahoma in NCAA Super Regional

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VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (50-12, 23-7 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Sat. – LHP Danny Hultzen (10-1, 2.83 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Robert Morey (9-3, 3.72 ERA)
Mon. – TBA

OKLAHOMA SOONERS (47-15, 15-10 BIG 12)
Probable Starting Rotation
Sat. – RHP Michael Rocha (7-1, 3.50 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Zach Neal (8-3, 4.42 ERA)
Mon. – TBA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team takes on Oklahoma in the NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional beginning Saturday at Davenport Field. The best-of-three series begins at 3 p.m. Saturday and continues at 4 p.m. Sunday. If necessary, there will be a game Monday at 1 or 7 p.m.

The ESPN family of networks will televise all of the eight NCAA Super Regionals. Pam Ward (play-by-play), Nick Belmonte (analysis) and Jay Walker (analysis) will have the call of the Charlottesville Super Regional. Locally, WINA Radio (1070 AM) will have the live broadcast, while the game also will streamed online at VirginiaSports.com. WRVA Radio (1140 AM) in Richmond will carry the Saturday game, while Sports Radio 910 (AM) in Richmond will air the Sunday and Monday games (Sunday joined in progress after Richmond Flying Squirrels game).

The Saturday Virginia-Oklahoma game will air live on ESPNU. Sunday, the Cavalier-Sooner matchup will air live on ESPN, as will the TCU-Texas game; viewers in Virginia and Oklahoma will receive the UVa-OU game, while viewers throughout the rest of the nation will have whiparound coverage of the two games (see map). If there is a Monday game, it will air on ESPN2. All three games will be in high definition – a first at Davenport Field.

At stake is a berth in the College World Series, beginning Saturday, June 19, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. The Cavaliers, the No. 5 national seed in the 2010 tournament, won the Oxford Super Regional last year, defeating host Ole Miss two games to one to earn UVa’s first-ever trip to the CWS. Oklahoma has been to 10 College World Series, with its last appearance coming in 1995. OU is a two-time national champion (1951, 1994).

Virginia (50-12) boasts a school-record 50 wins this season and is 33-5 at Davenport Field in 2010. Nine Virginia starters are hitting .289 or better as UVa is hitting .334 as a team. Keith Werman (So., Vienna, Va.) leads the team with a .430 batting average and has hits in 19 of his last 21 games. Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) is hitting .378 and has a team-high 94 hits, which has tied the single-season UVa record which was set by Jarrett Parker last year.

The Cavaliers have a 3.76 team ERA, and opponents are batting .236 against them this year. Danny Hultzen (So., Bethesda, Md.) and Robert Morey (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) have led the rotation. Hultzen, a first-team All-American, is 10-1 with a 2.83 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 98.2 innings, while Morey is 9-3 with a 3.72 ERA in 96.2 innings. Kevin Arico (Jr., Flemington, N.J.) has an NCAA-best 17 saves this year, which a school record and one shy of the ACC single-season record.

Ranked as high as No. 11 nationally, Oklahoma is 47-15 this season and went 15-10 in Big 12 play. The Sooners went 3-0 in the NCAA Normal Regional, winning all three games by one run (7-6 in 10 innings vs. Oral Roberts, 7-6 in 10 innings vs. North Carolina and 3-2 vs. North Carolina).

Garrett Buechele leads OU with a .387 batting average and also has team highs in hits (91), home runs (16) and RBI (62). The Sooners are batting .314 as a team and have pounded 93 home runs while stealing 88 bases in 119 tries.

On the mound, Oklahoma has a strong pitching staff which owns a 3.80 ERA. Bobby Shore (9-4, 4.23) and Zach Neal (8-3, 4.42) anchor the Sooners’ starting rotation, while Ryan Duke has a team-high 11 saves to go with a 3-1 record and 3.51 ERA.

Virginia and Oklahoma have met just once previously, with the Cavaliers scoring a 12-4 win on Jan. 31, 1999. That game was contested in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. UVa has played just two games against Big 12 teams – the other was a 4-2 win vs. Oklahoma State in 1998.

Capacity crowds will welcome the Cavaliers and Sooners throughout the super regional, as all ticket books have sold out for the three games. Virginia drew an average of 4,154 fans for its seven NCAA Regional contests (29,080 total). UVa’s attendance average was fourth highest among the 16 regional sites.

If any remaining tickets are returned from Oklahoma they will be available as single-game tickets for game 1 and will go on sale to the public on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at the Davenport Field ticket windows. Single-game tickets for games two and three, if available, will go on sale to the public beginning two hours prior to the games on Sunday and Monday (if necessary). Davenport Field’s ticket booths will open at 11 a.m. Saturday and two hours prior to game time on Sunday and Monday.

All parking will be paid parking for the entire postseason. Parking on game day will be $5.

NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional Schedule
Saturday – Virginia vs. Oklahoma, 3 p.m. (ESPNUHD)
Sunday – Virginia vs. Oklahoma, 4 p.m. (ESPNHD)
Monday – Virginia vs. Oklahoma, 1 or 7 p.m. (ESPN2HD)