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Virginia Plays Host to James Madison at 6 p.m. Wednesday
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team returns home to start a nine-game homestand at 6 p.m. Wednesday when it plays host to James Madison at Davenport Field. Live video and audio will be available at VirginiaSports.com (subscription required). Live GameTracker coverage also will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
WINA 1070-AM will have the local radio broadcast.
Wednesday is ‘80s Night at Davenport Field. Virginia will wear throwback uniforms, and there will be ‘80s-themed music and promotions throughout the evening.
Because of an event at John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday night, parking will be available in the University Hall, McCue and Cage lots only. No parking will be available at John Paul Jones Arena. View parking map.
LHP Kyle Crockett (So., Poquoson, Va.) will make his first start of the year for UVa on Wednesday, while JMU will counter with RHP Nick Slogik.
Virginia (18-10-1) comes home after dropping two of three games in its series at then-No. 9 NC State last weekend. NC State won the opener, 5-1, before UVa staged a late rally to win Game 2, 5-2. Trailing by two runs entering the ninth inning of the rubber game, Virginia scored three times to take the lead before the Wolfpack countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth to win, 7-6, and take the series.
Keith Werman (Sr., Vienna, Va.) extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a third-inning single on Sunday. He has reached base safely in 23-consecutive games this year and his raised his batting average to .342, which is second on the team to Jared King (Sr., Radford, Va.) at .363.
Virginia leads the nation with 22 triples this year. Texas (17) and New Mexico (16) follow the Cavaliers. Freshman Derek Fisher (Rexmont, Pa.) tops the ACC with six triples, which already is tied for sixth most in a single season in program history. He ranks third nationally, one off the lead set by North Dakota State’s Tim Colwell and VCU’s Bill Cullen. Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) and King are tied for second in the ACC with four triples apiece, which also stands 12th nationally.
UVa continues to top the ACC in batting with a .314 average. The Cavaliers join Georgia Tech (.303) as the only two teams with team averages over .300. UVa also leads the conference in fielding with a .976 mark; the Cavaliers had played 70-consecutive errorless innings until committing a ninth-inning error on Sunday. UVa is sixth in the conference with a 3.37 team ERA.
James Madison (6-21-1) has struggled through an injury-plagued season of late and has lost 16 of its past 17 games, beginning with its 14-6 loss to UVa on March 6 in Harrisonburg. Casey Goss leads the team with a .330 batting average. Cole McInturff is second on the team with a .319 average, while Ian Haynes is hitting .315. The Dukes are batting .279 as a team, own a 7.00 team ERA and are fielding .960 as a team.
Virginia owns a 35-25-1 record in its series with James Madison. In addition to the March 6 meeting, the teams played to a 4-4 tie on Feb. 18 in Myrtle Beach. The Cavaliers have won 11 of the last 13 meetings with the Dukes (11-1-1 record). JMU’s last win in the series was a 7-6, 14-inning victory on April 25, 2007, at Davenport Field.
The Cavaliers continue their homestand this weekend as Wake Forest visits Davenport Field for the first time since 2008. The three-game ACC series begins at 4 p.m. Saturday. Game 2 is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, and the series culminates with a 7 p.m. Monday game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU as part of the network’s ACC Monday package.