The Virginia baseball team will try to snap out of a three-game losing streak as it hosts the Tribe of William and Mary today at 3 p.m. at Davenport Field.
Virginia (9-8, 0-3 ACC) is coming off a sweep at the hands of No. 4 Florida State last weekend. That series snapped a seven-game win streak. William and Mary (13-8) comes to Charlottesville having won five out of its last eight games.
Virginia's last meeting with the Tribe was last February when the Cavaliers won, 5-3, in Williamsburg.
Virginia is expected to send out sophomore lefty Andrew Dobies (3-0, 4.29 ERA, 21 IP) against the Tribe. Dobies' three victories came against Liberty, JMU and UNC-Greensboro. Dobies, who has allowed only one homerun in his three games and has a .291 opponent batting average, will be tested by a power-hungry Tribe lineup that has produced 34 home runs on the year.
Ten of those longballs came from Tribe senior outfielder Mike Brown (.524 BA, 34 RBI, 84 AB). Other potential Tribe production comes from senior infielder/outfielder Tim Jones (.360 BA, 18 runs), junior infielder John Lentz (.341 BA, 6 HRs, 25 runs) and senior first baseman C.J. Stimson (.303 BA, 4 HRs).
Defense will be key as the Tribe lineup maintains a .311 combined BA -- slightly better than Virginia's .304 BA.
"Our infield is really strong," freshman pitcher Mike Ballard said. "Especially up the middle with Mark Reynolds and Kyle Werman."
Potential contributors around Dobies include senior outfielder Chris Sweet (.333 BA, 14 RBIs), junior outfielder Matt Street (.296 BA, 11 RBIs), sophomore infielder Mark Reynolds (.319 BA, 17 RBIs, 15 runs) and sophomore catcher Scott Headd (.305 BA, 16 runs).
"Our team is really good at moving runners, getting sac bunts down and playing the small ball type stuff," Reynolds said.
With only six home runs dotting the statistics of Virginia batters, the team needs to focus on the small stuff.
Virginia batters will try their talents against right-handed Tribe junior Chris Ray (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 36 IP). Ray has allowed only two home runs and a .231 opponent BA.
"Now we've got four left-handed guys in the lineup, which has been something we've been missing," coach Dennis Womack said. "We've got to have somebody who can swing the bat against a slider/curveball guy."
Virginia could use the momentum from an out-of-conference win when they resume conference play against Duke and Maryland and face in-state rival, James Madison over the next two weeks.
"Every game is important," Womack said. "You gain confidence from winning ball games, and every win is important. They all add up against any team that you play."
Virginia, to win those games, will have to keep up its run production, though it has been quiet in the power-hitting department. Prolific runs, even through small ball plays, will be valuable in combatting the strong hitting from William and Mary.
"Right now we're feeling pretty good about ourselves," Womack said. "I think there are some things we can improve on, and our guys know that."
Virginia will try to apply that knowledge, as they attempt to build another win streak.
Virginia will resume conference play after the single game with the Tribe while William and Mary will stay out of conference as it hosts a three-game set with Princeton.
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