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Baseball
Virginia Hosts Pitt in Weekend ACC Series
Watch | Live Stats | Ticket Information | Clear Bag Policy | UVA Game Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (10-10, 2-4 ACC) will host Pittsburgh (7-12, 1-5 ACC) in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series presented by Charlottesville Gas. Game one is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on Friday (March 22).
Game Coverage: All three games of the series will air live on ACC Network Extra, available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 through WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Links to each broadcast and live stats for the games are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get in-game updates on Virginia baseball’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).
TICKET INFORMATION
Fans can purchase tickets at a discounted rate in advance by going online to VirginiaSports.com/Tickets. For all regular season home games, available reserved single-game tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 online or via mobile devices. Tickets are $10 at the sport-specific ticket office on game day. General admission single-game tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the sport-specific ticket office locations on game day.
PROMOTIONS
Friday: In celebration of National Puppies Day, The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA will be on the right field concourse with dogs for adoption. Fans can tweet a photo of their dogs in UVA gear for a chance to get on Hoovision during the game.
Sunday: The second set of collectible UVA trading cards will be distributed to fans in attendance. There will be a postgame autograph session on the field and kids 12 and under can run the bases after the game.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Consistent with policies that took effect last season, fans attending games at Disharoon Park in 2019 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 Pitching Matchups
Friday – March 22 – 4 p.m.
Pitt: RHP Christian Camacho (1-1, 4.12 ERA, 19.2 IP, 8 BB, 24 SO)
Virginia: RHP Noah Murdock (0-1, 4.55 ERA, 27.2 IP, 12 BB, 26 SO)
Saturday – March 23 – 1 p.m.
Pitt: RHP Dan Hammer (2-2, 6.85 ERA, 22.1 IP, 11 BB, 35 SO)
Virginia: RHP Griff McGarry (2-3, 4.21 ERA, 25.2 IP, 24 BB, 28 SO)
Sunday – March 24 – 1 p.m.
Pitt: TBA
Virginia: RHP Mike Vasil (1-3, 5.32 ERA, 23.2 IP, 8 BB, 14 SO)
Leading Off
• Virginia enters the third weekend of ACC play in a three-way tie with North Carolina and Duke for second place in the ACC Coastal Division, one game out of first place.
• This weekend marks only the second ever trip Pittsburgh has made to Charlottesville since joining the ACC prior to the 2014 season. The 2015 series was moved to Charleston, S.C. due to weather and UVA took all three at Disharoon Park in 2017.
• Virginia is 2-0 in the opening game of the first two ACC series of the season
• Under head Coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers are 276-165-1 in ACC play. His 276 wins are the 8th most in league history and fifth most among active ACC coaches.
• Pittsburgh comes into the series having lost eight of its last nine games
• Virginia owns a 16-5 overall mark against the Panthers. The only series loss against Pitt came last season where the Panthers rallied to win the final two games at Charles L. Cost Field.
Midweek Recap
• Virginia recorded its fifth come-from-behind victory of the season and second in the last four games by defeating UConn, 6-3 on Wednesday (March 20).
• After falling behind 3-0 early, the Cavaliers rattled off the game’s next six runs.
• Jack Weiller pushed across the go-ahead run on his team-leading, fourth sacrifice fly of the season in the bottom of the eighth. He ranks fourth in the NCAA in sacrifice flies in just 12 at bats in 2019.
• Five pitchers combined for seven shutout innings to seal the seventh non-conference win of the season.
• Five of the six UVA runs scored on Wednesday afternoon came with two outs.
Late Inning Heroics
• Over the last four games, Virginia has scored 16 runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
• The fourth and eighth innings have been the most potent frames for the Cavaliers, plating 23 runs in each.
• On Friday (March 15), Virginia erased a two-run deficit in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs and taking the series opener against Georgia Tech, 9-8. The last time Virginia erased a two or more run deficit in the ninth inning or later was almost a year to the day earlier, when Virginia scored three in the 10th to defeat Boston College on March 18, 2018.
Team Notes
• Virginia has six players in the lineup with 13 or more RBI, the second-most to Florida State (7) in the ACC.
• Virginia has homered in four-straight games for the first time since 2017 when it finished the season with a long ball in eight-straight.
• As a team, Virginia has struck out 122 times, the fewest in the ACC.
• Led by Weiller, Virginia has produced 15 sacrifice flies, the most in the ACC and the fifth most in the country.
• Going into the weekend, Virginia is ranked second in the league in fielding percentage (.977) behind 20-1 NC State (.986).
At the Plate
• Brendan Rivoli continued his power surge on Wednesday with his third home run in the last four games. He’s now tied for the team lead with three on the year. Rivoli ranks ninth in the ACC with his team-best .359 batting average and has 10 multi-hit games in 2019.
• Sophomore Cayman Richardson was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk against UConn and has reached base in eight consecutive at bats after a 4-for-4 effort last Sunday (March 17) against Georgia Tech.
• Freshman Zack Gelof has reached base safely in his first 20 games of his collegiate career and also carries a nine-game hit streak in to the weekend. The nine-game tear surpassed Tanner Morris’ eight gamer from Feb. 22 – March 10 for the longest by a Cavalier this season.
• In six ACC games, Cameron Simmons is batting .417 (10-for-24). He’s reached base safely in six-straight coming in the series and is second on the team with eight multi-hit games. A total of 10 of his 13 RBI this season have come in the month of March.
Toeing The Rubber
• The trio of Noah Murdock, Griff McGarry and Mike Vasil have combined to start on all five weekends this season.
• Despite factoring in only one decision in five starts this year, Virginia has recorded three of its 10 wins with Murdock on the mound.
• Chesdin Harrington settled down the midweek game on Wednesday, escaped a bases loaded jam and retired all eight batters he faced. He struck out four batters including the side in the fourth. Opponents have not scored on Harrington in six of his last seven appearances.
• Righthander Paul Kosanovich picked up his team-leading, third win on Wednesday against Liberty. He is also tied for the team-lead with eight appearances.
• Sophomore Kyle Whitten struck out a pair of batters in the ninth on Wednesday and recorded his team-best, second save of the year. He also has a hold to his credit, pitching a shutout seventh inning against Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 17.