Baseball
ACC Baseball Tournament starts today
May 26th
UVa will play at noon today against Boston College in the ACC Baseball Tournament. The Hoos, of course, are the top seed in the tournament. This should be fun, since the ACC tourney is where Virginia’s magical run began last season.
From Old Virginia has a preview of the tourney here. Go Hoos.
UVa baseball rolls into the post-season
May 24th
It doesn’t get much better than this:
The top seed in the ACC tournament and the Coastal Division title had been secured by the time the first pitch was thrown at Miami’s Alex Rodriguez Park on Saturday.
Apparently, that was not enough for top-ranked Virginia in the regular-season finale.
The Cavaliers exploded early and held off a late rally from the ninth-ranked Hurricanes to secure a series-clinching 7-4 victory.
Virginia improved to 45-10 overall and 23-7 in the ACC entering the conference tournament, which starts Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C. The Cavaliers will be joined in their pool by fourth-seeded Miami, fifth-seeded Florida State and eighth-seeded Boston College, which used a tiebreaker to edge out North Carolina.
“To win two out of three in the final weekend to win the league title is a great accomplishment, especially to do it at Miami,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “Miami has an excellent club this year and we had to play great baseball to win the series with them.”
Let’s just be honest: you can’t stop Brian O’Connor, you can only hope to contain him. What he has done with this Virginia baseball program is remarkable.
Phase one of the season is complete, and UVa did what they had hoped: win the regular season ACC title. Phase two begins now, and there is no rest for the weary:
John Hicks, Steven Proscia and Keith Werman mulled over the group of teams that the top-ranked Cavaliers (45-10, 23-7 ACC) were given for the upcoming ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
As a reward for landing the event’s top seed, Virginia was “graciously” given single games in pool play with eighth-seeded Boston College, fifth-seeded Florida State and fourth-seeded Miami.
Two of the Cavaliers’ foes (FSU and Miami) entered the week ranked seventh and 14th, respectively, in the nation. The other, Boston College, swept N.C. State, just earned a bid by beating Georgia Tech and leads the league in fielding percentage.
“I was talking to Proscia and ‘Jaz’ [Hicks] and we were like, ‘Wow, Florida State and Miami and Boston College? There’s no easy win there,’” Werman recounted. “But at the same time we were like, ‘Shoot, we are in the best conference in the country.’
“We are never going to be in a spot for an easy win.”
That’s an understatement. What a tough group of teams.
Virginia will open with BC on Wednesday, at noon. I’m hoping we’ll see Branden Kline get that start, but Coach O’Connor hasn’t made that decision yet.
One last note: UVa got the top seed, but there is another thing that makes this even sweeter. Behold:
There is one thing, however, missing from the eight-team event: North Carolina.
The Tar Heels, despite sweeping the Hokies this weekend and making four straight trips to Omaha, lost out to BC on a complex tiebreaker since the two never faced in head-to-head competition.
Heh. Go Hoos.
Final Four
May 24th
What a weekend!
Men’s Lacrosse earned a trip to the Final Four with a stirring victory over Stony Brook. Then the Men’s Tennis team earned yet another berth in the Final Four by defeating UCLA.
Oh yeah, the baseball team had a pretty good weekend, too. More on that later.
I know a lot of fans are down on the UVa athletic department based upon recent horrific results in football and men’s basketball. Let’s be honest, though: this athletic department is outstanding. I am constantly amazed at the level of success achieved in non-revenue sports. Makes a man proud to be a Wahoo.
Perfect Baseball Weekend
May 17th
As far as I’m concerned, this was a perfect weekend of baseball. My Cincinnati Reds found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being atop the standings after taking a series from St. Louis. Then, there was this:
John Hicks needed only to stay near the batter’s box long enough to wave his hands towards fair territory to evoke Red Sox great Carlton Fisk’s famous home run from the 1975 World Series.
Instead, the Virginia sophomore raced to first base, looking to the left as his powerful right-handed stroke provided a game-ending homer that caromed halfway up the foul pole in left field.
The three-run smash from the former Goochland High School star ultimately lifted top-ranked Virginia to a 5-3 victory over North Carolina in front of a sellout crowd of 4,825 at Davenport Field, giving the Cavaliers their first three-game sweep over the Tar Heels in program history.
Awesome. Next up, the Hoos will host VMI before beginning a huge series with Miami on Thursday. That series has big implications for the ACC title race. I can’t wait….
*By the way, the Reds won the 1975 World Series referenced in the block quote above. 
Phil Gosselin and Danny Hultzen honored
May 4th
STL informs us that the top-ranked UVa baseball team has won a couple more honors. Second baseman Phil Gosselin was named Player of the Week in the ACC, and Danny Hultzen won Pitcher of the Week in the conference.
The official release with all the relevant information is in the extended entry. The Hoos play VCU tonight. It’s the last game before a 9-day break for final exams. After that break, Virginia will host the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Holes in an important ACC matchup.
After tonight, only seven games remaining in the regular season before the fun really begins.
Wahoo baseball is rollin’
May 3rd
Another great weekend for the baseball team. Yeah, it was just Duke, but still…these are games Virginia must win.
The Hoos are ranked number one in the country, swept Duke, and perhaps most importantly, moved into a tie atop the Coastal Division in the ACC standings. Glad to see Coach O’Connor’s guys taking care of business.
On Branden Kline
May 1st
VirginiaSports.com has a good interview with Branden Kline, one of the more exciting young pitchers in the ACC.
Director’s Cup Update
Apr 30th
The updated Director’s Cup standings have been released, and UVa has dropped to 8th (they were 5th previously). Eighth, of course, is the highest finish Virginia has ever accomplished in this particular competition (UVa was 8th last year and in 1999).
The baseball, lacrosse, and tennis teams are almost assured of garnering more points for the University, so Virginia appears to be almost a lock for their highest Cup finish ever. That’s a credit to the individual coaches, but also to Craig Littlepage who, as AD, has presided over the rise to prominence of the Athletic Department as a whole (even as the football and basketball programs have cratered).
Virginia beats Georgetown
Apr 30th
I know I’m late in posting on this one but, well, I had to recover first. It was a matchup for the ages…at least for me. My two schools went to battle, and the University of Virginia (CLAS ‘96) defeated Georgetown University (Law ‘99).
With world colliding like this, I expected the worst: human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together … mass hysteria! Nope, all that happened was the expected — a UVa win.
