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Coach Brian O’Connor and the Hoos have won |
The Virginia baseball team completed the weekend sweep of Wake Forest on Monday night and won its 14th straight home game at Davenport Field. The current homestand continues with a mid-week game against George Washington University on Wednesday beginning at 6 p.m.
Here is a brief scouting report on GW.
George Washington Scouting Report
2012 Results to date: 12-19, 2-4 in Atlantic 10 competition. Most recently lost 2 of 3 games this past weekend to Rhode Island in Kinston, RI. The Colonials are currently 11th in the A10 conference, which is the same as predicted in preseason voting.
2011 Results: 19-36, 9-15 in Atlantic 10 competition and did not make the A10 Tournament.
2011 Series with Virginia: Will Roberts pitched the first, and to date the only, perfect game in Virginia baseball history in last year’s GW game, which the Hoos won 2-0. Roberts had 10 strikeouts and was hoisted into the air on the shoulders of his teammates after Keith Werman fielded the final ground ball and threw to Jared King for the 27th consecutive out.
Outlook: In 2012, coach Steve Mrowka began his 8th season at the helm of GW baseball. He had to replace two starting pitchers and several position players from his 2011 team. CF Brendon Kelliher (.358) signed with the independent Can-Am League. Starting pitchers Bobby Lucas and Tommy Gately also signed pro contracts in the offseason. Two other position starters, LF Joe Motto and 3B Paul Pakan, completed their eligibility.
Pitching: The starting pitchers for the Colonials in 2012 have had a tough time, either giving up a lot of runs or, when pitching well, not getting support from the GW offense. The Friday starter has been junior LHP Brian Derner (1-6, 5.56 ERA, 43 IP) and the Saturday starter has been sophomore RHP Aaron Weisberg (1-3, 1.54 ERA, 46 IP). The Sunday starter has been junior RHP Tyler McCarthy (2-0, 3.72 ERA, 36 IP), who has also played in the outfield when not pitching, but is batting only .173 in 53 AB. The GW closer has been junior LHP Kenny O’Brien, but he pitched several innings in two games over this past weekend. The probable starting pitcher for the Wednesday game against Virginia should be junior RHP J.T. Wauford (2-2, 4.40 ERA, 30 IP). The GW staff ERA is 4.95 to date, with 157 walks and 182 strikeouts, compared to the Cavalier staff ERA at 3.26 with 106 walks and 262 strikeouts.
Batting/Fielding: The Colonials have only two players hitting more than .300, senior 3B Brett Bowers (.323) and senior LF Stephen Oswald (.314). Senior SS Mathew Murakami (.279) normally leads off and he has been successful on 10 of 14 steal attempts. Junior 2B Justin Albright (.286) and junior 1B Derek Brown (.228) round out the infielders and senior C Jimmy Best (.213) is an experienced player behind the plate. Sophomore RF Owen Beightol (.290) and junior CF Ryan Hickey (.270) complete the outfield starters for GW. The Colonials’ team batting average is .261 to date and they have committed 43 errors (fielding % of .963) which have resulted in 41 unearned runs. By comparison, Virginia’s team batting average is .316 and the Hoos have committed 32 errors (fielding % of .975) resulting in 33 unearned runs.
Prediction: This is another mid-week game which the Cavaliers should win, but they need to make a talent statement early by getting some offensive production in the first few innings to eliminate any hope GW might have that it can win this game. The Virginia starter is likely to be RHP Barrett O’Neill with support from the bullpen when needed from Shane Halley and Ryan Ashooh.
