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No. 1 Virginia, No. 8 Georgia Tech Square Off This Weekend in Atlanta
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VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (29-2, 11-1 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – LHP Danny Hultzen (6-0, 1.36 ERA)
Sat. – RHP Tyler Wilson (4-0, 1.90 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Cody Winiarski (4-1, 3.05 ERA)
GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (23-7, 11-1 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – RHP Mark Pope (7-0, 0.66 ERA)
Sat. – LHP Jed Bradley (3-0, 1.85 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Buck Farmer (5-1, 2.11 ERA)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia baseball team travels to Atlanta this weekend for a three-game series against No. 8 Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium. The teams are slated to play at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
All three games of the series will be broadcast on WINA 1070-AM in Charlottesville and VirginiaSports.com (through Virginia Sports Online Radio subscription). Live statistics also will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia (29-2) and Georgia Tech (23-7) enter the weekend tied atop the ACC’s Coastal Division with 11-1 records.
Virginia has won 10 straight games, dating to March 22 against Towson. It marks UVa’s second double-figure win streak of the year; the Cavaliers took 13 straight from March 1-19. It also is the first time UVa has posted two double-figure win streaks in one season.
Virginia is 7-0 on the road this year and has won nine straight road games, dating to the 2010 season. The nine-game streak is the longest current road win streak in the nation. The nine-game road win streak also matches the school record, set from May 17, 2003 to March 14, 2004.
Virginia is ranked No. 2 in the first RPI report, announced Tuesday by the NCAA. Florida holds the No. 1 spot in the first report; Georgia Tech stands No. 5. Virginia already has eight wins against the RPI top 25 and 11 against the top 50 this year.
Georgia Tech boasts the ACC’s top offense, with a .328 batting average, led by freshman Kyle Wren with an ACC-best .422 average. Virginia ranks fourth in the ACC with a .300 batting average. The Cavaliers lead the conference with a 1.93 team ERA, while Georgia Tech stands second at 2.21.
The teams’ starting pitching rotations each have been brilliant this year. Virginia’s rotation of Danny Hultzen (6-0, 1.36 ERA), Tyler Wilson (4-0, 1.90) and Cody Winiarski (4-1, 3.05) has combined to go 14-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 127.1 innings. Last weekend the trio allowed just two earned runs in 18 innings in the Virginia Tech series. Georgia Tech’s rotation of Mark Pope (7-0, 0.66 ERA), Jed Bradley (3-0, 1.85) and Buck Farmer (5-1, 2.11) has combined to go 15-1 with a 1.47 ERA in 141 innings this season.
Georgia Tech owns a 63-40-2 series edge over Virginia, although UVa is 13-8-1 against the Yellow Jackets since the current coaching staff took over in 2004. Last year the Cavaliers took two of three in Charlottesville. Recent games have been extremely tight – 18 of the 22 games since 2004 have been decided by three runs or fewer (10 by one run or a tie).
Virginia returns home Tuesday for the first of five home games in the week. UVa will play Georgetown at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Coastal Carolina at 5 p.m. Wednesday before Duke comes to town for a three-game weekend series.