Virginia Hosts No. 22 North Carolina in ACC Series

April 12, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Atlantic Coast Conference play continues this weekend at Disharoon Park when Virginia (19-14, 6-9 ACC) squares off against No. 22 North Carolina (22-11, 10-5 ACC). The three-game series commences on Friday (April 13) at 6 p.m.

Game Coverage:

All three games in the series will air 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.

Friday and Sunday’s games can also be heard locally on 1070 AM / 98.9 AM and on WINA.com. Links for the radio broadcast as well as the game’s live stats feed are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can follow in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

Promotions
Friday night’s opener will be a Sabre Rewards night in which students will receive five points for attending the game. In addition, the first 200 students will receive a voucher for a free concession item of their choice.

Saturday will be Military Appreciation Day at Disharoon Park. Veterans of every major conflict since World War I will be honored throughout the game. Fans can use the promo code: MILITARY for $5 general admission tickets.

Sunday will be the first of two upcoming Little League Days. Teams that purchase tickets together will have the opportunity to stand with the Cavaliers on the field during the national anthem. Use the promo code: LITTLELEAGUE for $5 general admission tickets.

Sunday will also be the third ACC Family Day presented by Stick’s. The Family Ticket Package offers four General Admission tickets and four concession vouchers (each valid for $8 worth of concessions) for $40. Additional tickets (including $8 concessions voucher) are available for $10 for General Admission. The third set of UVA baseball trading cards will be available on Sunday to first 1,000 fans. Kids can get postgame autographs and kids run the bases after the conclusion of Sunday’s game.

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

Parking
Parking for Friday night’s opener will be limited to the U-Hall West, McCue and Emmet/Ivy Garage lots on a first come, first served basis. Reserved baseball parking with a valid permit will be available in the Cage lot. John Paul Jones Arena lots on Friday will be paid lots after 5 p.m. to accommodate the Straight, No Chaser concert.

Friday Parking Map: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/va/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2017-18/misc_event/41318ParkingMap.pdf

Free first come, first served parking will resume for the U-Hall, JPJ Surface/Garage, McCue and Emmett-Ivy Garage on Saturday and Sunday.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday
North Carolina: RHP Tyler Baum (3-0, 4.43 ERA, 44.2 IP, 20 BB, 51 SO)
Virginia: RHP Derek Casey (4-2, 3.38 ERA, 56.0 IP, 11 BB, 70 SO)

Saturday
North Carolina: RHP Austin Bergner (4-1, 4.29 ERA, 35.2 IP, 21 BB, 42 SO
Virginia: LHP Daniel Lynch (2-3, 3.71 ERA, 53.1 IP, 13 BB, 68 SO)

Sunday
North Carolina: TBA
Virginia: TBA

Leading Off
– At 293 games, North Carolina is Virginia’s most played opponent in an all-time series that first began in 1891. The Tar Heels own a 181-108-4 advantage against the Cavaliers.
– Virginia has won seven of the last 10 games against North Carolina, despite dropping two out of three in Chapel Hill last season.
– North Carolina comes into the weekend series having won eight of its last nine games while Virginia has won four of its last five.
– The series will feature two of the ACC’s top three hitters in North Carolina’s Kyle Datres (.379) and Virginia’s Andy Weber (.373).
– Ranked as high as No. 12 (Collegiate Baseball), North Carolina will be the first ranked opponent Virginia faces since the season opener against then-No. 22 UCF (Baseball America).
– The Cavaliers have won both of its ACC series this season at home and own a 15-5 overall mark at Disharoon Park.

Reigning Player of the Week
– Friday night’s starting pitcher Derek Casey was named the ACC co-Pitcher of the Week on Monday (April 9) after tossing a complete game shutout against Virginia Tech last Friday (April 6.) He is the first Cavalier to be recognized by the league this season and the first Virginia pitcher to take home the award since Connor Jones did it twice in 2016.
– Casey did not walk a batter and only one Hokie baserunner reached second base. The right-hander fanned seven, upping his season total to 70.
– The nine-inning shutout was the first by a Virginia pitcher since Jones blanked Boston College on April 8, 2016.

Mound Numbers
– Virginia ranks second in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) and third in total strikeouts with 355.
– The Cavaliers’ 3.03 strikeout to walk ratio is 13th-best in the country.
– Virginia is one of 16 teams in the nation with five or more shutouts. The five shutouts are the most since the Cavaliers posted eight in 2014.
– Virginia pitchers have struck out 10 or more batters in 22 of the 33 games this season and 12 of the 15 ACC games.
– The 1-2 punch of Derek Casey (70) and Daniel Lynch (68) rank second and third in the ACC in strikeouts respectively.
– Daniel Lynch has struck out 10 or more batters in each of his last four starts, including a career-best 12-strikeout performance at Pitt on March 31. The only other pitcher in Virginia history to go four-straight games with 10+ strikeouts is UVA baseball Hall of Famer, Danny Hultzen. He struck out 10 or more in his first five starts of the 2011 season.

First Year Impact
– Virginia first years, Tanner Morris, Brendan Rivoli and Alex Tappen were responsible for eight of the team’s season-high 16 hits on Wednesday (April 11) vs. Radford.
– First years Kyle Whitten and Blake Rohm pitched the final two innings of the contest, yielding a combined one run on two hits.
– On Wednesday Morris became the third Cavalier this season to put forth a four-hit effort in 2018. He scored a game-high three runs and drove in 14th run of the season in the fourth inning.
– Tappen broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth with the team’s first grand slam of 2018. He finished the night 2-for-5 with five RBIs.
– After hitting for the series cycle against Virginia Tech, Rivoli ignited a five-run second inning with a two-RBI single.

ACC Rankings
– The Cavaliers have only struck out 174 times as a collective offensive unit, the least in the ACC. Virginia is the only team in the league that has not struck out more than 200 times.
– Andy Weber is tied for the league lead in hits (50), second in batting average (.374), second in doubles (12), sixth in RBI (31) and seventh in slugging percentage (.560).

Player Notes/Trends
– Andy Weber has reached base safely in 19-straight games, the second highest streak by a Cavalier this season (Eikhoff-21). He’s been held hitless in just four games this year.
– In his last five games, Tanner Morris is batting .522 (12-for-23) with nine runs scored.
– Brendan Rivoli is 7-for-15 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBIs in his last four games played.
– Cayman Richardson brings a career-high, eight-game hit streak into the series. He is batting .400 (12-for-36) with eight runs scored and five RBIs in that span.
– Nate Eikhoff, one of three Cavaliers to play and start in all 33 games, is six hits away from 100 for his career.
– Alex Tappen matched Andy Weber for the most RBIs in a single-game this season with five. Including the team’s first grand slam of the season on Wednesday night against Radford, he has homered in back-to-back games.

Noting UNC
– North Carolina comes into the weekend having won 13 of its last 16 games and tied for first place with Duke in the ACC Coastal Division.
– The Tar Heels are tied for the league lead with 237 runs scored and are ranked third in team batting average (.281).
– At the plate, the Tar Heels are led by Kyle Datres and Michael Busch. Datres is riding a 13-game hit streak and batting .442 (23-for-52) in that time. Busch’s 42 RBI are the second most in the country.
– North Carolina’s 3.69 team ERA in conference play is the second-lowest among ACC cohorts.