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Baseball
Virginia Hosts Georgia Tech in Final Home Series
May 10, 2018
| Georgia Tech at Virginia | |
| Date/Time | Fri., May 11, 6 p.m. Sat., May 12, 4 p.m. Mon., May 14, 7 p.m. |
| Location | Charlottesville, Va. | Disharoon Park |
| Live Audio | WINA.com |
| Live Video | ACC Network Extra (Fri/Sat.) | ESPNU (Sun.) |
| Radio | WINA 1070-AM and 98.9 FM |
| Social Media | UVA Game Notes | Twitter: @UVABaseball | O’Connor Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (25-20, 9-15 ACC) will play in its final home series of the season when it hosts Georgia Tech (27-22, 11-13 ACC) at Disharoon Park beginning Friday (May 11) at 6 p.m. The program will honor its seniors prior to Saturday’s game while Monday’s series finale will air on ESPNU.
Game Coverage: Friday and Saturday’s games 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. Monday night’s game will be live on ESPNU and is also available on the WatchESPN app.
In addition, all three games can 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’s contest will continue Virginia baseball’s flashback Friday series with early 2000s music and in-game contests.
Virginia baseball players will be available to sign autographs and kids can run the bases after Saturday’s game. The final set of UVA trading cards will be available while supplies last.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to Saturday’s game as the program will honor its eight seniors with a special presentation on the field. Ceremonies are scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m.
Weekend Parking
Friday: Free parking will be available in the U-Hall West Lot, McCue lot and the Emmett/Ivy garage on a first come, first served basis. Reserved parking (pass required) will be available in the U-Hall West lot. No parking will be available in the JPJ surface lot and garage due to an event.
Monday: Reserved parking (pass required) will be in the U-Hall West lot, as the Cage Lot no longer exists. Remaining free parking will be available in all surrounding lots, U-Hall West, JPJ Surface & Garage and McCue on a first come, first served basis.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, 6 p.m.
Georgia Tech: RHP Xzavion Curry (7-2, 3.50 ERA, 74.2 IP, 19 BB, 81 SO)
Virginia: RHP Derek Casey (5-3, 3.23 ERA, 75.1 IP, 17 BB, 88 SO)
Saturday, 4 p.m.
Georgia Tech: LHP Connor Thomas (5-3, 3.04 ERA, 80.0 IP, 8 BB, 93 SO)
Virginia RHP Noah Murdock (1-1, 10.12 ERA, 5.1 IP, 2 BB, 4 SO)
Monday, 7 p.m.
Georgia Tech: TBA
Virginia: LHP Daniel Lynch (3-4, 4.22 ERA, 74.2 IP, 18 BB, 85 SO)
Leading Off
– Virginia will play its first game since May 1 after a nine-day layoff for final exams. Georgia Tech comes into the weekend winners of three of its last four games.
– The Cavaliers have won four of the last six games against the Yellow Jackets, including a 2-1 series win last year in Atlanta.
– Under Brian O’Connor, Virginia is 14-6 against Georgia Tech in games played in Charlottesville and 28-17-1 overall
– Monday night’s contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU, the first national television broadcast of the season. All but nine of Virginia’s games during the 2018 season air on ACC Network Extra.
– In the past three seasons, the Cavaliers are 26-9 in the month of May, that includes a 15-4 mark in ACC regular season games.
– Virginia is 19-11 at home this season and have won 20+ games at Disharoon Park in all but three seasons (2002, 2003, 2015) since its opening.
Last Time Out
– Way back on May 1, Virginia split the season midweek series against VCU with a 2-0 victory in Charlottesville.
– Junior Cameron Comer hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eight to break a scoreless tie.
– Five pitchers combined for a two-hit shutout, the team’s seventh of the season.
Looking Back
– In the 2017 series against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, the Cavaliers won the final two games to take its second-straight season series against the Yellow Jackets.
– To clinch the series, the Cavaliers broke a 9-9 tie in the top of the ninth on a sac fly by Robbie Coman that scored Pavin Smith. Georgia Tech had scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to knot the game at nine.
– The 16-3 victory in the middle game was Virginia’s 40th of the 2017 season. The Cavaliers never trailed and posted six runs in the first inning.
On the Mound
– Virginia comes into the weekend averaging 10.49 strikeouts per nine innings, the third highest total in the country.
– Three of the team’s seven shutouts have come in ACC play. The staff’s seven shutouts are tied for the third most in the country. Only eight teams in the nation have seven or more shutouts in 2018.
– Friday’s starter Derek Casey has produced a team-best seven quality starts and has pitched into the seventh inning in seven of his last eight starts.
– Casey and Daniel Lynch each rank in the top 10 in the ACC in strikeouts. Casey’s 88 strikeouts are the fourth most in the league while Lynch has fanned 85, tied for the seventh most.
– As a pitching staff, Virginia owns a 2.83 strikeout to walk ratio, the second best in the ACC to Georgia Tech and 18th best in the country.
– The relief combination of Bennett Sousa and Andrew Abbott have combined for eight wins and nine saves. Seven of the nine saves have been multi-inning saves while all four of Sousa’s have been six-out saves.
– Virginia starting pitchers have produced 17 quality starts (6 IP, 3 ER or less) this season, 11 have occurred in the 24 ACC games this season.
Player Notes/Trends
– Junior Andy Weber has reached base safely in 31-straight games and has been hitless in only five games this season. He is third in the ACC in batting with a .354 average and second in the league with 17 doubles. In ACC play this year, he has 34 hits and 23 RBIs in 24 total games.
– Cameron Comer, the hero vs. VCU back on May 1st moved into a tie for the team lead with his third home run of the year. He has played 22-straight games at catcher and has scored a run in three of the last four games. He scored a season-high, three times in the series finale vs. Clemson on April 29.
– Freshman Tanner Morris had his 16-game reached base streak come to a close against VCU on May 1. He has 29 hits in 24 ACC games and has led off and played shortstop for the Cavaliers the last 20 games.
– Reliever Riley Wilson has not surrendered a run in his last 10 appearances, a span of 11 innings. He has allowed just three runs in 16.2 innings pitched this season and is fourth in the team with 17 total appearances.
– Junior Nate Eikhoff is one of three Cavaliers this season to start all 45 games this season. He has a hit in 10 of his last 13 games.
Noting Georgia Tech
– After a three-game series sweep of Radford over the Weekend, the Yellow Jackets dropped a 3-1 decision to Georgia at SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, on Tuesday night.
– The Yellow Jackets come into the series as the second-best hitting team in the conference, hitting .297 as a team. They are ninth in the country with 514 hits.
– On the mound, Georgia Tech is led by lefthander Connor Thomas, the reigning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Month. He was 2-0 with a 1.41 ERA and tossed a pair of complete games in the month of April. He currently leads the ACC in innings pitched with 80.
– As a staff, Georgia Tech has issued the fewest walks among ACC clubs.
– Georgia Tech has ACC series wins over Virginia Tech (2-1), Miami (3-0), Florida State (2-1) and Wake Forest (2-1).