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Virginia Starts ACC Tournament at 11 a.m. Thursday vs. Clemson
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VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (36-16-1, 18-12)
Probable Starting Rotation
Thu. – RHP Branden Kline (6-3, 3.89 ERA)
Fri. – TBA
Sat. – TBA
ACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Probable Starting Rotation
Thu. – Clemson (RHP Daniel Gossett)
Fri. – Georgia Tech (TBA)
Sat. – Florida State (RHP Mike Compton)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Virginia baseball team begins postseason play at 11 a.m. Thursday when it battles No. 5 seed Clemson in the ACC Baseball Championship at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers also will face No. 8 seed Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. Friday and No. 1 seed Florida State at 3 p.m. Saturday as part of Division A.
Under the pool-play format, each team will play one game against each of the other three opponents in its division Wednesday-Saturday (May 23-26). The two teams with the best records within their respective division brackets will advance to the title game on Sunday, with the winner earning the ACC’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
Division B consists of No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 NC State, No. 6 Miami and No. 7 Wake Forest.
All 13 games of this year’s ACC Baseball Championship will be televised for the sixth straight year. RSN, a regional network that covers the entire conference footprint, will carry 12 total games from Wednesday through Saturday (CSN Mid-Atlantic in the Virginia area). Please check http://bit.ly/2012ACCBase for local affiliates and stations. Sunday’s noon championship game will televised nationally by ESPN2.
All games will be live-streamed via the Internet by ESPN3. In addition, Sirius 93 will broadcast all 13 games live on satellite radio, and every game with exception of the Wednesday and Friday 7 p.m. games will also be broadcast live via satellite radio on XM 190.
All three games will be broadcast across select stations along the Virginia Sports Radio Network (check local listings), including WINA 1070-AM in Charlottesville; the audio for the UVa games also will be streamed through VirginiaSports.com (subscription required). GameTracker links also will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
The Cavaliers are the reigning conference champions after going 4-0 in the 2011 tournament; UVa defeated Florida State, 7-2, in the championship game. Virginia has won three ACC tournament titles, in 1996, 2009, 2011, and all in Durham, N.C.
UVa now has played in each of the 39 ACC tournaments and is 49-63 all-time at the ACC Baseball Championship. Under Brian O’Connor (since 2004), Virginia is 18-9 in the tournament.
Virginia went 5-4 this season against its foes from Division A. The Cavaliers swept Clemson March 23-25 in Charlottesville. UVa took two of three games against Georgia Tech May 11-13 in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers were swept by Florida State March 17-19 in Tallahassee; UVa held three-run leads in all three games against the Seminoles.
Virginia (36-16-1, 18-12 ACC) found a groove late in the season, winning 12 of its final 14 games. The Cavaliers captured their final four ACC series, including three on the road. In all, Virginia took seven of 10 conference series, with their series losses coming to FSU, North Carolina and NC State, who own the top three seeds at the ACC tournament. UVa was 11-8-1 through 20 games, but went 25-8 the rest of the way.
Three members of the Virginia baseball team have been named to the 2012 All-ACC Team, which was announced Monday by the conference office. Branden Kline (Jr., Frederick, Md.), Justin Thompson (Sr., Danville, Va.) and Keith Werman (Sr., Vienna, Va.) each were the named to the All-ACC second team. The All-ACC team was voted upon by the league’s 12 head coaches.
Following the ACC Baseball Championship, Virginia will await its NCAA tournament fate. The 16 host sites will be announced Sunday afternoon, and the field of 64 will be unveiled at noon Monday on ESPNU.