No. 18 Virginia hosts Eastern Kentucky in Weekend Series

Feb. 22, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 18 Virginia (2-2) begins a three-game series with Eastern Kentucky (0-4) on Friday (Feb. 23) at 3 p.m. The series continues on Saturday (Feb. 24) and Sunday (Feb. 25) with a 1 p.m. starts.

Game Coverage: Friday and Sunday’s games will be carried live on ACC Network Extra, a dedicated digital channel for ACC sports which is available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 through WatchESPN and the ESPN app at no additional charge.

A web-only radio stream on VirginiaSports.com will be available for Saturday’s contest. All three games will feature live stats with links also available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can follow in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

Clear Bag Policy
Consistent with what is already in place at Scott Stadium, John Paul Jones Arena and Klöckner Stadium fans attending games at Davenport Field this season must adhere to the department’s clear bag policy and entrance procedures. Details of the of the policy can be found here: http://www.virginiasports.com/facilities/clear_bag_Davenport_Klockner.html

Special Weekend Parking Instructions: John Paul Jones Arena is hosting Disney Live on Friday (4 p.m. & 7 p.m. and Luke Bryan on Saturday (7 p.m.). Please refer to the parking maps in the links below for special parking instructions.

Friday Parking Map: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/va/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2017-18/misc_non_event/FridayParkingMapEKU.pdf

Saturday Parking Map: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/va/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2017-18/misc_event/SaturdayParkingMapEKU.pdf

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday
EKU – RHP Aaron Ochsenbein (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO)
Virginia – LHP Daniel Lynch (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 5.0 IP, 2 BB, 7 SO)

Saturday
EKU – RHP Austin Perry (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 1 BB 6 SO)
Virginia – RHP Derek Casey (1-0, 1.59 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 BB, 7 SO)

Sunday
EKU – RHP Kaven Brown (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 IP, 3 BB, 5 SO)
Virginia – RHP Evan Sperling (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 3 BB, 9 SO)

*2018 Statistics

Leading Off
– Friday night’s game will be the first ever meeting between Eastern Kentucky and Virginia.
– Virginia has faced only one other current Ohio Valley Conference opponent it its history, Tennessee Tech on March 11, 1995 (W, 12-4).

Midweek Recap
– VMI snapped Virginia’s 11-game home win streak against non-conference opponents on Tuesday (Feb. 20) night with a 9-4 victory at Davenport Field.
– The Keydets scored the game’s first seven runs and held on for a 9-4 victory.
– Virginia set a new home opener attendance record with 3,079 at Davenport Field.

Weekend Rotation
– Lynch, Casey and Sperling combined for a 2.22 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched while striking out 23 batters last weekend in Orlando.
– Sperling put together one of his best outings of his career fanning nine batters in six innings. He retired the first seven batters of the game including five by way of the strikeout.

Cavalier Trio
– Senior Caleb Knight matched a career-high with three hits on Tuesday against VMI. His double in the bottom of the fifth plated two of the Cavaliers’ four runs.
– Junior Andy Weber has hit safely in his first four games this season and his last eight games dating back to last year. He has seven hits in four games, tied for the sixth-most in the ACC.
– Senior Justin Novak comes into the series with the team’s top batting average, .462 (6-for-13). He is one of seven players in the ACC with an average over .400.
– Knight, Novak and Webber are responsible for 12 of the team’s 18 RBI this season.
 

New Look Hoos
– Four freshmen, Christian Hlinka, Tanner Morris, Devin Ortiz and Alex Tappen, each saw plate appearances in Tuesday’s loss against VMI.
– Tappen has started all four games and leads the quartet with four hits on the season.
– Devin Ortiz recorded his first collegiate RBI on Tuesday against VMI, single up the middle that scored Weber for the game’s first run.
– Tuesday also saw the Cavalier debuts of Blake Rohm and Mack Meyer on the mound. Rohm tossed two scoreless innings and struck out two batters.
– Freshman Kyle Whitten worked himself out of a no-out, bases loaded jam on Tuesday night and went on to toss 2.1 scoreless innings.

Noting Eastern Kentucky
– The Colonels, winless through their first four games, have lost three games by one run and Tuesday night blew an early 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss at No. 13 Louisville.
– Under the direction third-year head coach Edwin Thompson, Eastern Kentucky is coming off a 24-32 campaign last season.
– Last weekend in Wilmington, N.C., starting pitchers Kaven Brown (Sunday’s starter) and Austin Perry (Saturday’s starter) combined for 9.2 innings without allowing an earned run.