UVA hosts UCONN for a three game series beginning Friday.
The Hoos are one of fifteen D1 teams ranked in all seven of the major college baseball polls. Their ranking ranges from 5th to 16th depending on the poll.
UCONN is receiving votes in three of the polls but is a capable opponent.
Assuming the weather cooperates, the game schedule is as follows…
Friday - 3 PM
Saturday - 1 PM
Sunday - 1 PM
A few baseball notes heading into today’s opener…
Our scheduled opponent for Tuesday (2/23), VMI, had to cancel their series this weekend with NC State due to an internal COVID issue. NC State is left scrambling to find an opponent for the weekend, but I imagine we’ll be doing the same heading into the week. We should find an opponent, if possible, because everyone needs the work a this time of year. And we’re due to hit the road next weekend for our conference opener at UNC.
There’s a decent chance the game today gets delayed until 4 or 5 just to give the field a little more time to get into good shape. Social media will be all over that.
If you can’t watch the game or follow on line, I run a play by play thread for all games over on the UVA 247 site. I don’t think you need an account over there to follow along.
Hoos win their opener 2 to 1.
Andrew Abbott gets the win and was dominant as the starter. He set a career high with 9 strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched.
Stephen Schoch came in for the 9th to nail down the save.
The only blemish on the day for the pitching staff was a solo homer given up by reliever Paul Kosanovich.
UCONN’s starter was as good as advertised. He changed speeds really well and left us struggling to figure him out at the plate. The next two games should have easier sledding at the plate as UCONN’s starting pitching talent drops from there. They do appear to have a rather solid bullpen.
Game 2 on Saturday was a frustrating 10 to 9 loss.
It was a frustrating game highlighted by an inexcusable number of walks (11) issued by pitchers and some odd/confusing lineup moves by the coaching staff.
Reliever Kyle Whitten was credited with the loss.
The walk tally by pitcher & number of innings pitched…
Griff McGarry (starter): 3 walks / 4.0 IP
Zach Messinger: 2 walks / 1.1 IP
Luke Schauer: 2 walks / 0.0 IP
Matt Wyatt: 0 walks / 1.2 IP
Kyle Whitten: 2 walks / 0.2 IP
Blake Bales: 0 walks / 0.1 IP
Jake Berry: 1 walk / 0.0 IP
Billy Price 1 walk / 1.0 IP
Messinger and Berry also each hit a batter in addition to their walks allowed.
The series rubber match is at 1:00 today.
Hoos take the series today with a 4 to 2 win over UCONN.
UVA scored 2 runs in the first and led wire to wire.
The pitching was much better today, only giving up one walk in the bottom of the 9th.
Mike Vasil (1-0) got the win and Stephen Schoch (2) picked up another save.
VMI is next on the schedule for Tuesday the 23rd. I would be surprised if that game gets played as scheduled as VMI called off their weekend series with NC State due to COVID issues on Friday morning. I suppose it’s possible that they can still play, but like I said I’d be surprised.
But if they do get the VMI game in, I’ll have a preview of the Keydets ready to go.