The Virginia baseball team opens ACC Tournament play on Thursday morning when it faces Maryland at 11 a.m. in Greensboro, North Carolina. This will be the last meeting between the Cavaliers and Terrapins as members of the ACC.
UVa coach Brian O’Connor said Monday that the two teams would not be playing again in the immediate future.
“I don’t know [long term]. Not in the immediate future. The Maryland coach [John Szefc] and I are very good friends. We’ve been good friends for a long time. We’ll see what happens,” O’Connor said. “As of right now, they’re not on the schedule moving forward in the next two years.”
Thursday’s morning match-up should be a good pitching battle regardless of who the teams send to the mound (the Hoos have not decided on a tourney rotation yet). The Terps’ Jake Drossner is eighth in the league in ERA (2.18), while Jake Stinnett (.181) and Bobby Ruse (.201) are both top 10 in opposing batting average allowed. Stinnett has 113 strikeouts too. Plus, Mike Shawaryn is tied for the league lead with 9 wins. The Hoos can counter with players like Nathan Kirby (1.58 ERA, 1st in ACC) and Nick Howard (17 saves, 1st in ACC) among many others.
“We can expect a team that is very similar to us. They’re outstanding on the mound, they’ve got very, very good starting pitching and good guys in the bull pen,” O’Connor said. “It looks like they do what we do from an offensive standpoint. Maryland is in a position where this is their last year in the league and I’m sure they want to go out with a bang. They’ve had a fantastic year so certainly we’ll have our hands full Thursday.”
A Salt Interview
Incoming freshman men’s basketball recruit Jack Salt did an interview with a New Zealand hoops website as he prepares to come to Virginia this month. Here’s an excerpt from the author Sam Garriock:
SG: How did the recruiting process unfold? I heard Saint Mary’s and Pitt especially were interested, being big names with obviously Steve [Adams] going through Pitt and guys like Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mills and a ton of other Aussies going through Saint Mary’s. What made you choose UVA?
JS: “The coaches really, Tony Bennett he used to play in New Zealand and he heard of me in Auckland. Kirk Penney, he’s Tony Bennett’s best friend and I know Kirk, so just a lot of connections. They have a great bigs coach and a great strength and conditioning coach. The ACC is a great league and also academically – it’s the number one public school in the nation academically. I’ve heard so many great things about the school so didn’t really find it all that tough to choose.”
Read the full article here.
Final Four!
A pair of UVa teams made a run to the Final Four. The men’s tennis team punched its ticket with a convincing win over Baylor, while the women’s lacrosse team pulled off a shocking rally to advance against North Carolina.
The men’s tennis team is making its fifth straight semifinals appearance. “I was pleased with the performance,” said head coach Brian Boland. “It can sometimes be difficult to drive over an hour to play indoors, but the guys handled it well. They were into the match from the start and focused at the task at end.”
Read the official release here.
The women’s lacrosse team scored six unanswered goals in the second half to knock off North Carolina in Chapel Hill. “We are incredibly excited and super proud of the girls and what they were able to pull off [Saturday], beating a very good Carolina team” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “It was a combination of a lot of hard work and sticking with it when the season was tough to get to this point.
Read the official release here.
Five in a Row
The women’s rowing team added another trophy to its haul over the weekend. The Cavaliers won their fifth straight fifth consecutive ACC Championship on Saturday.
“[It] was a great day for Virginia rowing and I am very proud of our student-athletes and how they performed today,” UVa coach Kevin Sauer said. “We have had a great team attitude all year and we are excited to represent the ACC and the University of Virginia at the NCAA Championships. Thanks to Clemson and Robbie Tennebaum for hosting an outstanding regatta.”
Read the full news release here
Tweet of the Day
A BIG congrats to #Redskins rookie OT @MORGANMOSES_78 for finishing up minicamp AND graduating from UVA this weekend! pic.twitter.com/vu88rITb57
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) May 19, 2014
Hoo-Tube Video of the Day
ESPN hired former University of Virginia lacrosse All-American Jay Jalbert, now a filmmaker, to produce this open to the network’s NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships this month.
