Virginia to Square Off Against Longwood, VCU

March 26, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (13-10) returns home on Tuesday (March 27) to host Longwood (6-15) at Disharoon Park before traveling to Richmond to take on VCU (16-8) on Wednesday (March 28). Tuesday’s home game will begin at 4 p.m. while Wednesday will feature a 7 p.m. first pitch.

Game Coverage
Only Tuesday’s game 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.

Wednesday’s contest can be heard live on WINA 1070 AM/98.9 FM as well as WINA.com. VirginiaSports.com will have links to live stats feeds for both game games and fans can also follow in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

Promotions

$2 Tuesday’s will continue at Disharoon Park, BBQ sandwiches will be $2 for the entire game against Longwood.

Clear Bag Policy
Consistent with what is already in place at Scott Stadium, John Paul Jones Arena and Klöckner Stadium fans attending games at Disharoon Park 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

Probable Starting Pitchers

Tuesday
Longwood: RHP Eric Harp (1-2, 4.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 14 BB, 24 SO)
Virginia: RHP Grant Donahue (0-0, 7.20 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0 BB, 4 SO)

Wednesday
Virginia: TBA
VCU: TBA

Leading Off
– Virginia and Longwood will meet for the fourth-straight season while Virginia and VCU have played in each of the last 11 seasons.
– Wednesday will mark the first road midweek game of the season for Virginia and is one of two on the 2018 schedule.
– The Cavaliers are 4-1 against teams from the Commonwealth this season.
– The Cavaliers come into Tuesday having won 20 of the last 21 midweek contests including a 4-1 mark this season.
– Virginia has only four losses in its last 30 home games against non-conference opponents.

Against the Lancers/Rams
– Virginia is 14-2 all-time against Longwood in a series that was first played in 1980. The Cavaliers have won all nine meetings against the Lancers under head coach Brian O’Connor.
– The Cavaliers have outscored the Lancers 44-11 in the last four games.
– In 2017, the trio of Evan Sperling (4.2 IP), Bennett Sousa (2.1 IP) and Jack Roberts (2.0 IP) limited Longwood to just two hits in a 13-2 victory at Disharoon Park.
– Virginia has won 41 of the 62 games against VCU in a series that dates back to 1979.
– Including a sweep of the 2017 midweek home and home series, Virginia has won 17 of the last 19 matchups against VCU.

Weekend Recap
– Virginia was swept in a road ACC series for the first time since 2015 (at Virginia Tech – 3/13-15) this past weekend, dropping all three at Miami. The Cavaliers had won eight-straight series against Miami going into the weekend.
– Despite having runners on base in 19 of the 29 innings played, Virginia managed just three runs and was held to a season-low three hits in Saturday’s middle game.
– The Cavaliers received quality starts on the mound from Derek Casey (7.0 IP, 2 ER) and Daniel Lynch (7.0 IP, 1 ER) in each of the first two games of the series.

Player Notes/Trends
– Junior Grant Donahue will make his first career start for Virginia on Tuesday against Longwood. He was scheduled to start in last week’s Towson midweek series that was cancelled due to inclement weather.
– Donahue has made 15 career relief appearances, including three this season. His longest outing came last year, 3.1 shutout innings against Miami on May 13.
– Senior Caleb Knight matched a school-record in Sunday’s series finale by getting plunked in his first three at bats. He is one of four Virginia players to record three hit by pitches in a game, the last being World Series Champion Derek Fisher on Feb. 15, 2013.
– Knight has reached base in eight-straight games and 22 of the 23 games this season.
– Starting the last two games at catcher, Knight threw out three runners against Miami including two on Sunday.
– Sophomore Cayman Richardson matched a career-high with three hits on Sunday and also stole his third bag of the year. Richardson started the final two games in center field and recorded a pair of outfield assists that saved two runs in Saturday’s game.
– Nate Eikhoff had his team-best, 16-game hit streak come to an end on Saturday, going 0-for-4. He is one of nine players since 2000 to put together hit streaks of 16 games or more.
– Andy Weber, who leads the team in hitting (.340), goes into the midweek ranked ninth in the ACC in hits with 32.

Noting Longwood
– The Lancers come into Friday on a five-game losing streak and were swept at Winthrop this past weekend in their second Big South series of the year.
– Longwood is 1-9 on the road this year with its lone win coming at USC Upstate on March 4.

Noting VCU
– VCU comes into the Wednesday on a 12-game win streak and is 3-0 in the A10 thanks to a sweep of Rhode Island over the weekend. The Rams have played 15 of their 24 games at home and own a 12-3 record at The Diamond in 2018.
– The Rams pitching staff has been statistically among the best in the country. VCU hurlers hold a 3.41 collective ERA (45th in the nation) and boast a 6.78 WHIP, the sixth best total in the country. Closer Mac McCarty leads NCAA Division I baseball with 11 saves.
– Lead-off man Haiden Lamb is second in the A10 and ranked ninth in the country with 14 stolen bases so far this season.