No. 25 Baseball Lifts Lid on 2013 Season at East Carolina

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Feb. 14, 2013

Virginia Cavaliers (0-0)
Probable Starting Rotation (2012 stats)
Fri. – Fr. LHP Brandon Waddell (-)
Sat. – R-Sr. LHP Scott Silverstein (2-5, 4.46 ERA)
Sun. – So. RHP Nick Howard (3-0, 2.81 ERA)

East Carolina Pirates (0-0)
Probable Starting Rotation (2012 stats)
Fri. – So. RHP Jeff Hoffman (3-2, 3.67 ERA)
Sat. – Jr. RHP Ryan Williams (-)
Sun. – Sr. RHP Andy Smithmyer (5-2, 1.92 ERA)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Ranked No. 25 nationally in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll, the Virginia baseball team begins its 2013 season this weekend with a three-game series at East Carolina. The teams open the season with a 3 p.m. Friday game, with 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday games slated to follow.

Broadcast Information
Live audio will be available through VirginiaSports.com. A link to live video from East Carolina also will be available through VirginiaSports.com. A Cavaliers Live subscription also will gain access to the ECU video broadcast.

Virginia Lifts Lid on 2013 Season
• Coming off a 39-19-1 record and the program’s ninth-consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, Virginia, is 23-6-1 in opening weekends during the previous nine years of Brian O’Connor tenure as head coach (since 2004).
• UVa went 1-1-1 last year in its season-opening at the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Myrtle Beach.
• UVa also began the 2010 season at ECU, winning two of three games.

Virginia-East Carolina Series
• Virginia holds a 23-18 lead in the all-time series with East Carolina and has won five of the programs’ seven meetings since 2010.
• The teams last met on June 5, 2011, with UVa claiming a 13-1 win over the Pirates in the championship game of the NCAA Charlottesville Regional.
• UVa and ECU played a home-and-home series in 2010 and 2011; the Cavaliers won two of three at ECU from Feb. 19-21, 2010, in Greenville and took two of three from the Pirates from Feb. 25-27, 2011, in Charlottesville.

McMullan Returns to ECU
• Virginia associate head coach Kevin McMullan was an assistant coach at East Carolina from 2000-02.
• In 2001-02, he served as acting head coach for Keith LeClair, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
• ECU went 43-20 in 2002 and won the Conference USA Championship.
• The Pirates won three C-USA titles and an NCAA Regional championship during his tenure.

Waddell Gets Opening-Day Nod on Mound
• Rookie Brandon Waddell is scheduled to make the Friday start. He will be the first UVa freshman to make the opening-game start since Dave Sammons on Feb. 26, 1986, at William and Mary.
• He also is getting the first weekend start for a UVa freshman since Branden Kline on May 20, 2010, at Miami, the first opening-weekend start since Danny Hultzen on Feb. 21, 2009, against Bucknell, and the first opening-weekend road start since Matt Packer on Feb. 11, 2007, at Coastal Carolina.

Fifth-Years Provide Leadership
• Virginia has a pair of veteran fifth-year seniors set to guide the young 2013 team: Jared King and Scott Silverstein.
• King has started 143 career games, with 124 career starts, including 81 straight starts dating to 2011.
• Silverstein was the Cavaliers’ Saturday starter for most of 2012 after battling back from a pair of shoulder surgeries.
• The two have been part of two ACC championship teams, three regional championship squads and two College World Series teams.

Cavaliers with Experience vs. ECU
• Six Cavaliers have prior experience against ECU:
• Kyle Crockett: 2 GP, 0.2 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
• Reed Gragnani: 5 GP (2 GS), 0-8, 1 BB, 1 K
• Colin Harrington: 1 GP, 0-1
• Jared King: 3 GP (2GS), 4-9, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI
• Whit Mayberry: 2 GP, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
• Scott Silverstein: 1 GP, 1.0 IP, 1 K

Noting East Carolina
• ECU went 36-24-1 last year, including a 23-7-1 mark at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
• The Pirates return 21 letterwinners, including five position starters and 10 pitchers, from the 2012 squad.
• ECU’s 2012 ERA leader Andy Smithmyer (1.92) is back this year and is slated to start Sunday. Teams hit just .227 against him last year. ECU’s scheduled Friday starter, Jeff Hoffman, went 3-2 last year and limited opponents to a .224 average.

Up Next
• The Cavaliers return to Charlottesville for their home opener Tuesday at Davenport Field. Virginia will entertain William and Mary, with first pitch slated for 3 p.m.