No. 1 Baseball Travels to William & Mary Wednesday
Story Links
Feb. 18, 2014
No. 1 Virginia at William and Mary
Date/Time Wed., Feb. 19, 2014 | 6 p.m. Location Williamsburg, Va. | Plumeri Park Multimedia GameTracker | Live Audio ($) More Information Twitter | O’Connor Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia baseball team travels to William and Mary at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va. The game originally was slated to be played at UVa, but field conditions at Davenport Field prompted the shift to William & Mary.
Broadcast Information
A live audio broadcast will be available through a Cavaliers Live subscription on VirginiaSports.com. Live statistics (GameTracker) also will be available on VirginiaSports.com. The audio and live stats also can be accessed through the Virginia Sports app, which is available through iTunes.
Virginia in the Latest National Rankings
Baseball America, Perfect Game- 1
NCBWA – 4
USA Today Coaches – 6
Collegiate Baseball – 9
Virginia Cavaliers (2-1)
Probable Starting Pitcher (2013 stats)
Sr. RHP Artie Lewicki (0-1, 13.50 ERA)
William & Mary Tribe (2-1)
Probable Starting Pitcher (2013 stats)
Jr. RHP Bryson Kauhaahaa (DNP for W&M in 2013)
Cavaliers Start Season 2-1
UVa bounced back from a season-opening loss to Kentucky last Friday with a pair of dominating wins over VMI (12-0) and UNC Wilmington (7-2) at the Hughes Bros. Challenge in Wilmington, N.C. The Cavaliers were solid across the board in the final two games. Offensively, UVa racked up 21 hits, while the pitching staff limited hitters to just nine hits. The defense was strong all weekend with only one error.
Lewicki Gets Nod on Mound
Senior Artie Lewicki (Wyckoff, N.J.) is slated to make the start Wednesday. He will be making just his third appearance on the mound since the conclusion of the 2012 season. After undergoing offseason surgery in the summer of 2012, Lewicki returned last season in early April and made two short appearances before he was shut down for the remainder of the season.
Lewicki was one of UVa’s top starters down the stretch in 2012. He went 4-3 with a 3.82 ERA in 2012; in starts against the ACC, he went 3-1 with a 2.82 ERA in 51 innings. During a five-start period prior to the NCAA tournament, Lewicki went 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA while batters hit just .164 against him.
Rookies Work Way into Lineup
While UVa boasts experience throughout its lineup, a pair of Cavalier freshmen earned their first starts over the weekend. Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ontario) started all three contests at shortstop, while Matt Thaiss (Jackson, N.J.) earned a start at DH Sunday against UNCW and was 3-for-7 with a pair of doubles in two games. Pinero is the first rookie to start on opening day at shortstop for Virginia since Mark Reynolds in 2002.
Tony Butler (Sun Prairie, Wis.) made his UVa debut off the bench at third base Saturday against VMI, while pitchers Connor Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) and Alec Bettinger (Woodbridge, Va.) came out of the bullpen in their first career outings on the mound.
Noting William & Mary
Coming off a 39-24 season, the Tribe took two of three games in its season-opening home series against Army. Nick Tompson was a major offensive catalyst, going 8-for-13 with a home run and a pair of doubles, while Michael Katz hit three homers and knocked in six runs.
William & Mary went to the NCAA Raleigh Regional last season, going 2-2 with a pair of wins against Ole Miss. Both losses came to NC State. The Tribe was picked third in the preseason Colonial Athletic Association poll.
Series History
Virginia holds a 70-29-2 advantage in its series with William & Mary. The Cavaliers have captured six straight meetings since the Tribe won 6-5 on April 23, 2008, in Charlottesville.
UVa and William & Mary last met a year to the day of the 2014 meeting (Feb. 19, 2013) with the Cavaliers earning an 11-2 victory at Davenport Field. Nate Irving and Reed Gragnani each recorded three hits as UVa racked up 13 hits in the win.
The Cavaliers went 9-3 against in-state foes last year and are 90-15-1 against schools from the commonwealth of Virginia since 2004.
Up Next
The Cavaliers play host to East Carolina in a three-game series Friday through Sunday (Feb. 21-23) at Davenport Field. The teams are scheduled to play at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.