The Virginia baseball team suffered a hard weekend, losing three games to Wake Forest (28-6, 11-3 ACC), and is now left to search for consistency. In two weeks of games, the Cavaliers (19-18, 7-8 ACC) went 3-6 and appear to have lost some of the fluidity they possessed earlier in the season.
Tonight, Virginia will head into a two-game in-state series against the University of Richmond - the first game in Charlottesville and the second in Richmond - during which they will look to find their stride again.
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"This is a tough week for us," coach Dennis Womack said. "We have a lot of good teams we have to play, we have to regroup. It should be interesting to see if we can regroup, these are tough loses for us."
This weekend's series sent the Demon Deacons to the top of the ACC pile, and left the Cavaliers definitively in fifth place with a sub-.500 conference record. Rapid regrouping will indeed prove key to Virginia's ability to keep its head above water, and essential to allowing the Cavaliers to meet their potential.
Unfortunately, the Cavaliers will have to rebuild against a Spider squad that has never been stronger, and with full knowledge of how important in-state play is to their season. Richmond (ranked No. 19 nationally) currently boasts the strongest record in the nation (32-4, 12-0 Atlantic 10) and will bring a 29-game hit streak to Charlottesville tonight.
The Spiders come off a weekend sweep and haven't tasted defeat all season. This leaves the somewhat fickle Cavalier squad with a huge challenge.
Virginia will need to hit on all cylinders and play every advantage they can tonight. The Cavaliers have been sending inconsistent pitching to the mound, and been less than sure of themselves in the field, but they will start the series with a home-field advantage. This weekend, the University's new stadium hosted a capacity crowd - and while the result of the game did not necessarily prove it - this support lent momentum to the Cavalier effort.
"This is what we're striving for," Womack said. "We're striving to have an atmosphere where it's fun for the community and the student body to come and be in a nice stadium. We just hope that we can improve our club and fill this place up on a consistent basis."
That effort will begin today. As Virginia looks to move on and retain its reputation as a premier club within the Commonwealth, they will need to see stability from dynamic players such as freshman shortstop Mark Reynolds and senior third baseman and pitcher Dan Street, and solidity at the plate from juniors Robert Word and David Stone.
"Were just going to have to keep at it," Reynolds said. "If we keep hitting and fielding our positions then we should be all right."
If the Cavaliers can draw on the enthusiasm of the crowd, rise to the challenge that the Spiders surely will pose, and front a level-headed effort, anything is possible.
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