There's a team over at the Klockner Stadium complex that is having its best season in school history. They're sitting atop the ACC, are included in the national rankings and their most consistent player is Pennsylvania-bred.
Any guesses?
This time last year, the resounding answer would have been the Virginia lacrosse team and John Christmas -- but what a difference a year makes.
Virginia baseball may have a new look as it takes a 13 game win streak into tonight's contest with Norfolk State, but its makeover was done predominately with old players -- perhaps none more overlooked than No. 1 pitcher Andrew Dobies.
In his 10 starts this season, Dobies (6-0) has been deadly. The left-handed junior from Wexford, Pa. has a 1.89 ERA, second in the ACC behind N.C. State's Vern Sterry (1.47). Dobies' 72 strikeouts have already tied his career mark set last year, and he has twice tied his career record for strikeouts in a game, 10, in 2004.
What separates him from the pack is that Dobies is a workhorse. He eats innings as if they were items on the postgame spread -- since going five innings in the season opener at North Carolina A&T (in which he gave up just three hits and one earned run), the southpaw has gone at least six innings in each start, including two eight-hit complete games. He is one inning short of averaging seven frames per start.
In addition to durability, Dobies is a model of efficiency. He hasn't had a shutout yet this season, but has come painfully close several times -- Dobies has given up a single earned run in seven out of his 10 starts. The three earned runs Dobies allowed in the Cavaliers' conference opener at then-No. 17 Georgia Tech marked his worst performance to date.
A conundrum exists in college baseball. The best starting pitcher always takes the mound for the Friday night series opener -- under the lights, in a game played in prime time. But since the media typically features the Sunday game most heavily, it's the No. 3 pitcher who becomes the face of the pitching staff in the eyes of the headline-skimming majority.
Dobies doesn't mind missing out on post-game trips to the press box and seeing his picture in the paper in exchange for being the go-to guy.
"I kind of like doing the whole Friday thing because I like being the one to set the tone for the weekend," Dobies said. "I feel like [No. 2 pitcher Matt] Avery feeds off what I do Friday."
The progression of Dobies' numbers -- from his relief role as a freshman in 2002, to his introduction to the weekend starting rotation in 2003, to his rise to the top of the staff as a junior -- implies that his 2005 line could quite possibly be for a minor league club.
His ERA has gone from 9.67 to 3.84 to the current 1.83 in the same span, while his number of games started has ballooned from zero to 12 to 10 in the first 37 games of this year. If Dobies were to win one of his projected three remaining starts -- either at No. 4 Miami, or home versus No. 14 Florida State or unranked Wake Forest -- he would break his season record of six wins.
"He's got a tremendous cutter that is probably the pitch that will propel him at the next level," pitching coach Karl Kuhn said. "More than pitches, he's got tremendous heart and is a tremendous competitor -- intangibles you can't instill in a kid."
Dobies will watch from the dugout today as his teammates take on visiting Norfolk State in a7:00 p.m. home game played on his 21st birthday. Although Dobies would like to get a win on April 20 as a birthday present to himself, he has much higher aspirations than his own stats this season
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