CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – On the heels of the first road trip of the 2026 season, the Virginia baseball team (6-1) returns to Disharoon Park on Wednesday (Feb. 24) for a midweek showdown with the George Washington Revolutionaries (1-5).
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1090 AM)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Wednesday – 4 PM
George Washington: LHP Nathan Murphy (0-0, 135.00 ERA, 0.1 IP, 3 BB, 0 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jayden Stroman (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 3 BB, 6 SO)
LEADING OFF
- Dating back to the start of the 2021 season, the Cavaliers are 38-7 in February.
- In the opening seven games of the season, UVA has plated 105 runs, which ranks fourth nationally. Entering the midweek against GW, the Cavaliers are averaging 15 runs per game, which is the third most and only ranks behind ACC foes Georgia Tech and Miami.
- In the weekend opener against Monmouth, the UVA trio of Noah Murray, Sam Harris and AJ Gracia each hit multiple home runs, becoming the first trio of Cavaliers to hit multiple home runs in the same game this century.
ON THE MOUND
- For the second midweek of the season, freshman Jayden Stroman will get the ball for the Hoos.
- A highly touted prospect out of New York, Stroman was the No. 58 overall player in the country according to Perfect Game.
- In two relief appearances this season, Stroman has tossed three scoreless innings with six strikeouts against three walks.
- Jayden is the younger brother of former MLB All-Star Marcus Stroman.
RANKING THE HOOS
- After a historic start to the 2026 campaign, Virginia ranks top 25 nationally in multiple categories including batting average (.343/16th), hits (90/11th), home runs (17/4th), home runs per game (2.43/5th), on-base percentage (.484/10th), runs (105/4th) and scoring (15.0/3rd), slugging percentage (.605/10th) and strikeouts per nine (12.7/14th).
- UVA is one of six teams in the country to be ranked top 10 in scoring and Ks per nine, with Oklahoma, UNLV, Miami, LSU and Georgia being the others.
FUN IN THE SUN
- For the first road trip of the 2026 season, Virginia headed south for a round robin tournament hosted by Stetson. The Hoos dismantled the Monmouth Hawks on Friday before falling in walk-off fashion to Stetson on Saturday. UVA rode late-inning heroics to a victory over North Dakota State in the weekend finale on Sunday.
- On Friday, the Hoos smashed seven home runs en route to a 21-8 win over Monmouth. The seven dingers were the most by UVA in a game since hitting eight against George Washington in 2024.
- In the weekend opener against Monmouth, the UVA trio of Noah Murray, Sam Harris and AJ Gracia each hit multiple home runs, becoming the first trio of Cavaliers to hit multiple home runs in the same game this century.
BREAKING IN THE NEW VIDEO BOARD
- To accompany the debuts on Davenport Field, a new state-of-the-art video board also made its debut on opening weekend, displaying plenty of content.
- Over the course of the opening weekend, UVA plated 69 runners in three games—the most ever in a three-game stretch to start a season. The previous high was set in 1889, when the baseball team representing the University of Virginia scored 59 runs in the first three games ever played.
- The weekend was capped off by a 31-8 victory in the Saturday nightcap. The 31 runs broke the previous program for most runs in a game, which was when the Hoos dropped 29 runs on Niagara in 2007.
- Crozet native Noah Murray broke the run record with a three-run blast in the eighth inning. With the home run, Murray became the 15th Cavalier to score five times in the same time.
- Chris Pollard became just the third head coach in program history to win his first three games. The other two coaches were H.H. Lannigan in 1918 and Brian O’Connor in 2004.
A NEW ERA OF VIRGINIA BASEBALL
- Director of Athletics Carla Williams announced the hiring of Chris Pollard as the University of Virginia’s Head Baseball Coach on June 10, 2025.
- Pollard arrives in Charlottesville after spending the last 13 seasons at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to a 420-296 record, seven NCAA tournament berths, four Super Regional appearances and two ACC Baseball Tournament championships. His 420 wins are the most by a head coach in Duke baseball history.
HOO ARE THESE CAVALIERS?!
- After a successful run at Duke, Pollard has brought his entire Blue Devil coaching staff with him from Durham, including Brady Kirkpatrick (pitching), Derek Simmons (Infielders), Eric Tyler (Hitting), Brian Sakowski (Director of Recruiting) and John Natoli (Director of Player Development).
- To complement the staff, Pollard also brought in Casey Scott (Director of Operations), Bailey Hill (Athletic Training) and 2025 UVA Bullpen mainstay West Arrington (Assistant Director of Operations & Player Development).
- On the field, 27 new Cavaliers arrived on Grounds in the fall to make up a top ten transfer class and a top 10 high school recruiting class.
PRESEASON HONORS
- Headlined by consensus Preseason All-American AJ Gracia, a total of four Cavaliers landed on Preseason All-American teams.
- Eric Becker was named to two teams, while Joe Tiroly and Lucas Hartman each landed on one team.
- Along with Preseason All-American accolades, Gracia and Becker were each named to the Golden Spikes Watch List. Becker also found himself on the Baseball America Preseason Player of the Year Watch List, while Hartman was added to the Stopper of the Year Watch List.
- Virginia is ranked in four of the five major national polls, with the Cavaliers checking in at 14 for Baseball America and Perfect Game.
- In a poll of the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches, the Virginia baseball team was picked to finish seventh in the league.