No. 7 Virginia Entertains No. 11 Florida State This Weekend

Story Links

March 19, 2015

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (13-5, 2-4 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Jr. LHP Nathan Kirby (3-1, 0.83 ERA)
Sat. – So. RHP Connor Jones (4-1, 1.57 ERA)
Sun – Jr. LHP Brandon Waddell (1-0, 2.42 ERA)

FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (17-5, 5-1 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – TBA
Sat. – TBA
Sun – TBA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 7 Virginia baseball team plays host to No. 11 Florida State Friday through Sunday in a three-game ACC series at Davenport Field. The series opens at 5 p.m. Friday, with 1 p.m. games slated for Saturday and Sunday.

UVa is on track to welcome its one millionth fan to Davenport Field on Sunday afternoon.

Live Audio/Statistics
Live video will be available online on VirginiaSports.com for the Friday and Sunday games, and live audio will be available Saturday. The broadcasts are part of the Cavaliers Live subscription package. Live statistics (GameTracker) will be available all weekend. The video, audio and live stats also can be accessed through the Virginia Sports app, which is available through iTunes.

WINA 1070-AM will have the radio broadcast of the Saturday and Sunday games. If there is a conflict with a potential men’s basketball NCAA tournament game on Sunday, baseball will air only on VirginiaSports.com.

Virginia in the Latest National Rankings
USA Today Coaches, Perfect Game – 7
NCBWA – 9
Collegiate Baseball – 12
D1Baseball – 13
Baseball America – 14

Promotions
Friday – trading card sets 1 and 2 featuring Cavalier legends Kyle Crockett and Phil Gosselin. Free hot chocolate and coffee will be offered throughout the game Friday.
Saturday – appearance by the Washington Nationals Racing Presidents.
Sunday – Family Packages available (four tickets and four $8 concessions vouchers for $44). Sticks Kebob Shop Family Day with postgame autographs and running of the bases. Virginia also will be recognizing the one millionth fan at Davenport Field with a VIP game experience.

Virginia-Florida State Series
Florida State owns a 50-26 edge in the all-time series against Virginia, including a 26-5 advantage in games played in Tallahassee. Virginia has won five of its last six series against FSU. The Cavaliers have won 15 of the last 23 meetings; the teams split four games last year, with UVa taking two of three in Tallahassee before the Seminoles won in the ACC tournament. Since 2010, 13 of the 20 meetings have been determined by three runs or fewer, including three of four last season.

Finally, Some Weekend Baseball at Davenport
With the crazy weather that has plagued Charlottesville this year, Virginia at long last will play host to its first weekend games of 2015. This marks the latest date for the first home weekend game since March 26, 1988, against West Chester. Virginia had three weekend series moved south, including the opening ACC series against Pitt, which was moved to Cary, N.C. In all, UVa has played two home games this year.

Speaking of Weekends at Davenport …
Virginia has thrived at home in ACC play in recent years, winning 11 straight series and 27 of its last 28 ACC series, dating to April 2009. UVa last lost a home ACC series in 2012 when North Carolina came to town and swept the Cavaliers.

Haseley Gets Bat Going
After struggling at the plate to start the season, Adam Haseley concluded the Virginia Tech series with back-to-back three-hit games. It marked the first time he has recorded more than one hit in a game. Haseley batted .169 over the first 15 games before going 6-for-9 in the final two games in Blacksburg; he batted leadoff in each of those two contests.

Noting Florida State
FSU boasts the ACC’s top offense, scoring a league-best 176 runs this year while hitting 19 home runs, which is second most in the league. Reigning ACC Player of the Year DJ Stewart is batting .271 and has a team-high six homers as well as 16 RBI. Quincy Nieporte leads the team in batting at .313. FSU is batting .270 as a team and owns a 4.22 team ERA.

Up Next
Virginia completes a five-game homestand at 4 p.m. Tuesday when Georgetown comes to Davenport Field. UVa makes its first-ever trip to Notre Dame next weekend (March 27-29) in the teams’ first matchup as ACC foes.