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Baseball
Virginia Continues ACC Play at Notre Dame This Weekend
Watch | Listen (WINA Fri. & Sun.) | Live Stats | Baseball 2019 Game Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (17-12, 6-6 ACC) will hit the road for the second-straight weekend to take on ACC foe, Notre Dame(11-15, 6-6 ACC) in a three-game series at Frank Eck Stadium. All three-games will air on ACC Network Extra, beginning with the series opener on Friday (April 5) at 6 p.m.
Game Coverage: ACC Network Extra is available to authenticated subscribers of WatchESPN and the ESPN App. Audio broadcasts will also be available for all three games. Friday and Sunday’s games can be heard live locally in Charlottesville on WINA 1070 AM/98.9 FM and anywhere on WINA.com. An audio stream of Saturday’s game will be available exclusively on VirginiaSports.com. Links to all broadcasts and in-game live stats are also available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also receive in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday – April 5 – 6 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Griff McGarry (2-3, 3.67 ERA, 34.1 IP, 33 BB, 42 SO)
Notre Dame: LHP Tommy Sheehan (4-2, 4.57 ERA, 43.1 IP, 12 BB, 35 SO)
Saturday – April 6 – 2 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Noah Murdock (1-2, 4.35 ERA, 41.1 IP, 14 BB, 40 SO)
Notre Dame: LHP Cameron Brown (1-3, 6.35 ERA, 39.2 IP, 19 BB, 49 SO)
Sunday – April 7 – 1 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Mike Vasil (1-3, 5.13 ERA, 33.1 IP, 13 BB, 22 SO)
Notre Dame: RHP Cameron Junker (1-2, 4.68 ERA, 32.2 IP, 14 BB, 34 SO)
Leading Off
• Virginia begins a four-game road trip, its longest stint away from Charlottesville this season.
• The Cavaliers are 2-5 in true road games in 2019
• This weekend will only be the second trip for Virginia to South Bend for an ACC series.
• Virginia is 8-4 all-time against Notre Dame and 5-2 against the Irish since they joined the ACC.
• The Cavaliers enter the weekend one game out of first place in the ACC Coastal Division standings.
• Virginia has won all four series-opening games in ACC play and are a combined 2-6 in games two and three.
Familiar Territory
• Head Coach Brian O’Connor returns to South Bend for the second time as the head coach at Virginia.
• He spent nine years 1994-2003 as an assistant at Notre Dame under Paul Mainieri, the current head coach at LSU.
• The Irish made five-straight NCAA Tournaments (1999-03) and reached the 2002 College World Series for only the second time in program history.
• Since moving on from Notre Dame both Mainieri and O’Connor have won National Championships in 2009 (LSU) and 2015 (Virginia), respectively. The two are part of a crop of eight active head coaches to win a National Championship.
• Counting his five appearances at Notre Dame, O’Connor had been to the NCAA Tournament in 19-consecutive years (1999-2017) until last season.
South Bend Connection
• A pair of former Cavaliers, Derek Casey and Andy Weber are on the Opening Day Roster for the South Bend Cubs, single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
• A ninth-round pick in last year’s MLB Draft, Casey is scheduled to be the opening day starter on Thursday (April 4) at Four Winds Stadium in South Bend.
• Also expected to start in the opener is infielder Andy Weber, a fifth-round selection in the 2018 draft and the Cavaliers top hitter last season.
• Notre Dame lost 1-0 in a five-inning exhibition game against the South Bend Cubs on Wednesday night (April 3).
As a Team
• Virginia has seven different players with 15 RBI or more, the most in the ACC.
• The Cavaliers did not commit an error in all three games at NC State last weekend and have committed only seven in 12 league games, second fewest to only the Wolfpack (6). Virginia’s .979 fielding percentage is the second highest in the ACC and ranks 21st in the nation.
• As a team Virginia has struck out a combined 186 times the fewest of any other ACC school. Only UVA and North Carolina have fanned less than 200 times this season.
• Coming into the weekend Virginia ranks third in the ACC in batting average (.294).
From the Batter’s Box
• Cameron Simmons enters the weekend having reached base safely in 15-straight games. His .404 batting average through 12 ACC games is the fifth highest in the league. Simmons has a hit in all but one of 12 ACC games this year and enters the weekend on a nine-game hit streak.
• Tanner Morris collected his 13th double of the season on Tuesday, in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate. The second-year shortstop its tied for second in the league and tied for 13th in the country in doubles. Over the last five games, Morris is 10-for-17 (.588) with two doubles, a home run and five RBI.
• Brendan Rivoli scored twice and went 2-for-3 with an RBI against Old Dominion on Tuesday night. It marked his team-best, 13th multiple hit game.
• Morris (5th – .360) and Rivoli (7th – .355) both rank in the top-7 in the ACC in batting. Only Wake Forest has multiple players in the top seven in batting average this season.
• Nate Eikhoff rounded out the Cavalier two-hit performers on Tuesday with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate. He’s made 84-straight starts dating back to last season and started all 29 this season at first base. Over the course of those 84 games, he’s played four different positions – first base, second base, third base and left field.
On the Mound
• Griff McGarry will start on Friday night for the second-straight week. He’s faced two top-5 opponents this year in opening games (Vanderbilt-No. 1 & NC State – No. 4). Last week against the Wolfpack, McGarry struck out five of the first six batters he faced and ended up with eight strikeoutsin 4.2 innings pitched.
• Noah Murdock has a team-best four quality starts including his last two. The right-hander matched a career high in innings pitched (7.0) and strikeouts (7) against NC State last Saturday.
• Reliever Kyle Whitten leads the staff in appearances (15) and saves (4). He’s seen action in six of the last eight games where he’s allowed two runs in 6.2 innings pitched with a win, two saves and a hold to his credit.