The Virginia baseball team will face the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Md. tonight. The game will be the first of a three-game series with the Terrapins through Sunday.
The Cavaliers (16-14, 5-4 ACC) are coming off a tough two-game home-and-home series with JMU in which they lost both games. Virginia, plagued by defensive issues, will face an ACC foe with a superior team batting average, comparable pitching and currently better defense. One advantage for the Cavaliers is Maryland's dismal performance in ACC play. The Terrapins (19-9, 0-6 ACC) have been swept by both UNC and Clemson this season.
Maryland, 13-1 in College Park, will bring to bear a .326 batting average. Five Terrapin batters boast an average over .300 and one, junior infielder John McCurdy, boasts a gaudy .496 batting average.
|
Maryland is a bit soft on defense. Four of the Terrapins' most used pitchers have earned run averages over 4.00. Their best starter is redshirt junior Todd Ainsworth, who holds a 4.05 ERA and a 5-2 record in eight appearances. A team ERA of 5.13 for the Terrapins is partnered with a modest defensive team with 52 errors overall and a .952 team fielding percentage.
Four runs in a baseball game is not a bad effort, but only is good if a team's pitching and defense can compliment the offensive sparks the Cavaliers showed they could produce in Tuesday's loss to JMU.
"Keeping grinding at it," freshman infielder Mark Reynolds said. "That's what you've gotta do."
The Cavaliers' team batting average is holding at the .279 mark. Only four batters now hold averages over .300. Senior infielder/pitcher Dan Street leads the Cavalier offense with a .372 average over 121 at bats. Junior Robert Word is a close second with a .330 average over 115 at bats.
But good averages at the plate are not enough. As Word points out, getting teammates home is a key component.
"We've had a lot of problems getting runners in," Word said. "We're going to focus on executing."
Virginia's defense is mixed compared to Maryland. Cavalier pitching is a spot better than the Terrapins with a 5.02 team ERA. Two Cavaliers have ERAs under 3.00 with a minimum of 32 innings pitched. Sophomore Jeff Kamrath leads the staff with a 2.34 ERA over 50 innings pitched and a 4-2 record in eight appearances. Close on his heels is sophomore Joe Koshansky with a 2.78 ERA over 32 innings pitched. But the Cavaliers superior pitching is hampered by fielding that is comparatively worse than Maryland's. A team fielding percentage of .946, coupled with 62 team errors is something the Cavaliers need to improve upon, especially in close games.
"Our pitchers are going to try to crack down," Word said. "And do what they were doing earlier this season."
The Cavaliers swept Maryland in Charlottesville last April and hope for more of the same after dropping five of their last six games.
"Maryland is a good team," Word said. "The ACC is a tough conference. I wouldn't say we're the favorite ... If we can play like we can play, we can sweep them. It's going to be a dogfight either way.
Maryland and Virginia will both take on non-conference opponents after their series together. Virginia takes on Virginia Tech after the series and Maryland faces George Mason.
Read More
Football lands three additional transfers
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayOne common trait that stands out with this most recent batch of transfers is size.
Men’s basketball suffers road drubbing versus California
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayVirginia submitted another rudderless performance.
