Injuries can destroy a team's momentum, or they can force other players to step up into starting roles, making the team that much stronger in the stretch run. The Virginia baseball team (26-7, 8-4 ACC) will face one of those two situations when it goes head-to-head with the Clemson Tigers in a three-game home series this weekend.
The Tigers come to town with a first place ACC mark, currently 6-0 in the conference and 17-10 overall. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are riding high on a six-game win streak and will have their ace, Andrew Dobies, on the mound for game one Friday night.
But the injury bug hit the squad hard Tuesday during the team's 11-9 triumph over William & Mary. Right fielder Matt Street, who is second on the team in hits and runs scored, sat out the game against the Tribe with a broken wrist, which he had been playing with since breaking it last month. Shortstop Mark Reynolds, first on the team in on-base percentage and runs scored, was injured in the seventh inning after being drilled in the left wrist with a fast ball at the plate. Reynolds, however, stayed in the game and despite being in obvious pain, laid down a bunt single to start a ninth inning rally. First baseman and designated hitter Josh Darby went down in the ninth inning with a serious knee injury while running out a throw to first base. Darby got X-rays Wednesday night, and his status is doubtful for the game. Street and Reynolds vary from day to day.
"We've got a lot of guys that are really dinged up right now," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "This is typical of what happens in college baseball. What we need do is stay together as a ball club. If there's a guy out or two guys out in a particular game, we've got plenty of very qualified players that can come in and do the job."
Virginia faces a Tigers team that just handed No. 6 South Carolina their fifth loss of the season. Clemson also defeated No. 18 Auburn back in March.
"This is our biggest series of the year so far," sophomore Ryan Zimmerman said of the matchup with the Tigers."We're sitting at 8-4 in the ACC after playing UNC, N.C. State and Georgia Tech. If we can take care of business, we'll be sitting pretty for what we want to accomplish this season."
A key to their success so far has been freshman closer Casey Lambert. Lambert has a 1.75 ERA with four saves. In his 25.2 innings of relief, he has thrown 17 strikeouts, and opponents have batted just over .200 against him.
"A closer has got to have three qualities to me," O'Connor said. "He's got to have a lot of guts, he's got to be able to throw strikes, and he's got to have some out pitches. [Lambert] has all three of those qualities and he's doing a fabulous job in that role."
While Lambert is picking up saves, Dobies is adding to his unblemished win total. He is 5-0 on the year with a 1.96 ERA and 57 strikeouts. He will likely encounter southpaw Tyler Lumsden of the Tigers, who is 2-1 with a 4.25 ERA. The Tigers' normal weekend starter, Jason Berken, who is 5-1, is questionable for Friday's matchup.
This weekend will be Clemson's first road ACC series of the season and just their second of the year overall.
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