Virginia Hosts VMI in Home Opener

Ticket Information | Clear Bag Policy | Parking Info | UVA Game Notes | Watch | Live Stats

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (1-2) returns home to open up a 15-game home stand on Wednesday (Feb. 19) when it hosts VMI (1-2) at Disharoon Park. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the contest will air live on ACCNX.

**Note the game was originally scheduled for Tuesday (Feb. 19) and was moved to Wednesday (Feb. 19) due to inclement weather. More info: https://wahoowa.net/2SCwKlj

Game Coverage: ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. Links for the live stream and in-game live stats are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the Virginia baseball official twitter account (@UVABaseball) for in-game updates.
 
Ticket Information
Fans can purchase tickets at a discounted rate in advance by going online to UVATix.com. For all regular season home games, available reserved single-game tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 (Sections 101-105 / 115-116) or $10 (Sections 106 and 114) online or via mobile devices. Tickets are $10 (Sections 101-105 / 115-116) or $12 (Sections 106 and 114) at the Disharoon Park ticket office on game day. General admission single-game tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the Disharoon Park ticket office locations on game day.
 
Seating Map: https://virginiasports.com/images/2020/2/13/2020_Baseball_Disharoon_Park_Seating_Diagram.jpg
 
Parking
Four (4) parking bays in the JPJ South lot (formerly U-Hall lot) will be held for baseball fans on a first-come, first-served basis. Overflow parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis in the JPJ South, JPJ West lots and JPJ Parking Garage. Due to men’s basketball at John Paul Jones Arena, baseball fans will need to vacate these all of these lots by 6 p.m.
 
Leading Off
• Virginia hosts VMI in its home opener for the fifth-straight season.
• In the Brian O’Connor era (since 2004), Virginia is 13-3 it its home openers.
• Virginia went 16-2 at home against non-conference opponents in 2019 and is 34-12 against non-conference foes over the last two seasons.
• The Cavaliers are 479-146 (.766) all-time at Disharoon Park and have won 20 or more games at home in all but one season (2015) under O’Connor.
• Virginia was 11-2 against teams from the Commonwealth in 2019
• The Cavaliers have not dropped a game against a non-conference opponent at home since March 2, 2019 (3-0 vs. Seton Hall), a span of 10 games.
• In an all-time series that dates back to 1889, Virginia is 106-32 against the Keydets. Under O’Connor, the Cavaliers hold a 12-5 edge.
 
Last Season vs. VMI
• Four Cavalier pitchers – Evan Sperling, Zach Messinger, Blake Bales and Chesdin Harrington combined for a two-hit shutout in a 9-0 Cavalier victory. The quartet combined to strikeout 15 batters, what stood as the most by the staff in any single game of the 2019 season.
• The Cavaliers did all of their damage in the first (four runs) and fifth innings (five runs). Brendan Rivoli went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI in the contest.
 
On the Hill
• Messinger will make his sixth career start and first since earning a no-decision in a 3-2 win at VCU on April 30 last season.
• The right-hander made his collegiate debut last season against VMI, tossed three innings of scoreless relief, allowed no runs and struck out five batters.
• In the first game of this past Saturday’s doubleheader, Messinger struck out six of the eight batters he faced in 2.1 innings of relief work against Oklahoma. The six strikeouts were a career high.
 
Pensacola in Review
• Virginia began the season with a 6-0 shutout of Oklahoma who was ranked as high as No. 16 in this week’s Baseball America Top 25.
• The opening day shutout was the first by the Cavaliers since 2009 (12-0 vs. Bucknell). Four Cavalier pitchers – Griff McGarry, Kyle Whitten, Andrew Abbott and Stephen Schoch limited the Sooners too just two hits.
• With inclement weather in the forecast, the two teams were forced to play a doubleheader on Saturday in which the Sooners were victorious, 7-2 and 5-1 to take the three-game series.
• Oklahoma pitchers limited the Cavaliers to three hits in the nightcap of the doubleheader.
• The series took place at Blue Wahoos Stadium, home of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
 
New Hoos
• Over the weekend, eight new Cavaliers saw their first action as a member of the program. A total of four position players and three pitchers made their collegiate debuts.
• Second baseman Max Cotier started all three games and his first hit of his college career came in his first at bat on Friday night, an RBI single that scored Nic Kent.
• Junior transfer Marc Lebreux also started all three games (1 LF, 2 RF) and came up with a big two-RBI hit late in the season-opening win over Oklahoma.
• Three freshman hurlers – Jacob Baldino, Nate Savino and Matt Wyatt – all saw action on opening weekend. Baldino pitched the final two innings of game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, did not allow a run and struck out a pair of batters.
 
On the Basepaths
• As a team Virginia was successful on seven of its nine stolen base attempts over the weekend. The seven stolen bags are tied for the second most in the ACC.
• Freshman Chris Newell leads the team and is second on the team with three stolen bases in three attempts.
• Seven different Cavaliers have attempted to steal a bag over the weekend.
• On the defensive side, Logan Michaels eliminated three Sooners attempting to steal on Saturday night, the most by a Cavalier catcher in a single game since 2002. He cut down three of the five runners attempting to steal in two starts behind the plate, tied for the most in the ACC.