CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In the midst of the longest road trip of the season, the Virginia baseball team (10-1) heads to North Carolina for a pair of games against the Charlotte 49ers (7-3). Tuesday’s game (March 3) will be contested at Charlotte’s Hayes Stadium before the two squads face off at Atrium Health Ballpark, home to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, on Wednesday (March 4).
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ESPN+ (Tuesday) | Kannapolis Cannon Ballers YouTube (Wednesday)
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1090 AM)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Tuesday – 6 PM – Hayes Stadium
Virginia: RHP Michael Yeager (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 5.1 IP, 6 BB, 6 SO)
Charlotte: LHP Chayse Oxborrow (0-0, 10.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0 BB, 6 SO)
Tuesday – 6 PM – Atrium Health Ballpark
Virginia: RHP Jayden Stroman (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 5 BB, 8 SO)
Charlotte: RHP Wesley Jones (1-1, 3.24 ERA, 8.1 IP, 1 BB, 10 SO)
LEADING OFF
- Wednesday’s game at Atrium Health Ballpark will be the first of three minor league stadiums that Virginia is slated to play in this season, with the other two being Virginia Credit Union Stadium (Fredericksburg, Va.) and Truist Field (Charlotte, N.C.).
- UVA is coming off a split weekend sweep of the VCU, where the Cavaliers prevailed in the first two games over the Rams at Disharoon Park before finishing off the weekend with a 5-3 victory at The Diamond in Richmond.
- Entering the midweek contests, Virginia is averaging 12.4 runs per game, which ranks fourth in the country behind ACC foes Georgia Tech, Miami and NC State. The high-octane offense has been supercharged by 24 home runs this season, which are the sixth most in the nation.
- Dating back to the end of the 2025 season, Virginia has won its last seven midweek contests.
ON THE MOUND
- Michael Yeager will get the ball to start the weekend. The righthander is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in 5.1 innings this season with six strikeouts for the 2026 season.
- On Wednesday, Jayden Stroman will get the start for UVA. The highly touted freshman is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in six innings with eight strikeouts this year.
RANKING THE HOOS
- After a historic start to the 2026 campaign, Virginia ranks top 30 nationally in multiple categories including walks (87/6th), home runs (24/6th), home runs per game (2.18/5th), on-base percentage (.451/19th), runs (133/7th), scoring (14.5/2nd), slugging percentage (.553/20th), strikeouts per nine (11.3/27th) and Hits Allowed Per Nine (7.00/27th).
SPRING CLEANING
- On the third weekend of the season, Virginia swept the VCU Rams in a three-game series that saw the first two games played at Disharoon Park with the finale at The Diamond in Richmond.
- UVA took the series opener by a score of 5-3 and was powered by a career-high eight-strikeout performance by Henry Zatkowski and a leadoff home run from Eric Becker.
- Saturday’s game two saw UVA win its first walk of the season as the Cavaliers won 7-6 in 11 innings. AJ Gracia homered while Eric Becker was in the middle of the game-tying play in the ninth and the walk-off in the 11th.
- Sunday’s series finale included eight innings of one-run ball from the freshman trio of John Paone, Noah Yoder and Jayden Stroman. Gracia, Sam Harris and Zach Jackson all homered to secure the sweep.
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.
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.