Virginia Travels to No. 9 NC State This Weekend

Story Links

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (17-8-1, 5-4)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – LHP Scott Silverstein (2-2, 2.10 ERA)
Sat. – RHP Branden Kline (4-2, 3.10 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Artie Lewicki (1-1, 4.50 ERA)

NC STATE WOLFPACK (17-6, 6-3)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – RHP Ethan Ogburn (2-1, 1.73 ERA)
Sat. – LHP Carlos Rodon (4-0, 1.30 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Logan Jernigan (3-1, 4.03 ERA)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Riding a six-game winning streak, the Virginia baseball team will visit No. 9 NC State this weekend for a three-game series at Doak Field at Dail Park. The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday before wrapping up the series with a 1 p.m. matinee on Sunday. NC State is the third-consecutive ranked opponent Virginia has faced in ACC play this season.

All three games will be webcast by ESPN3. WINA 1070-AM will have the local radio broadcast throughout the series. The Saturday game will air on six stations across the state on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. A live audio stream and Gametracker links will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

Virginia (17-8-1, 5-4 ACC) comes off a two-game midweek series sweep of Towson at home at Davenport Field. UVa shut out the Tigers, 8-0, in the opener Tuesday before walloping Towson, 19-5, in the finale on Wednesday. Derek Fisher (Fr., Rexmont, Pa.) went 4-for-6 with a grand slam and seven RBI Wednesday as UVa posted season highs in runs and hits (19) and scored in seven of its eight trips to the plate.

Fisher currently tops ACC freshmen in triples (6), home runs (4), total bases (58) and slugging (.690); he is third among ACC freshmen in batting (.333).

Virginia’s offense has been clicking of late and the Cavaliers lead the conference with a .324 team batting average (Georgia Tech is second at .304). Jared King (Sr., Radford, Va.) leads the squad with a .378 average, which stands seventh in the ACC. Keith Werman (Sr., Vienna, Va.) has been on fire at the plate of late, hitting a team-best .464 (13-for-28) over the last 10 games as he has racked up a 10-game hitting streak.

Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) has upped his batting average to a season-best .318 following a recent hot spell. He is batting .410 over his last 10 games, with five doubles and nine RBI in that span.

NC State (17-6, 6-3) defeated East Carolina, 4-3 in 11 innings, Wednesday night in Raleigh. The Wolfpack dropped two of three games to North Carolina last weekend in ACC play. NC State owns ACC series wins over Georgia Tech and Wake Forest this year.

NC State holds a 110-67-1 edge in the all-time series against Virginia, although the Cavaliers won two of three games against NC State last year in Charlottesville. The teams have split the last 16 meetings since 2007.

UVa returns home next at 6 p.m. Wednesday (April 4) to face James Madison.