It is not time yet to write a eulogy for this year's Virginia baseball squad. There are however, plenty of reasons to be anxious about the trajectory this season is taking.
The Cavaliers have already lost eight conference games -- two more than they did during the entire 2004 campaign. The squad still maintains a decent 21-11 overall record but has a mediocre 5-8 conference record and an even more troubling 4-8 record on the road.
The main difference between this year's team and last year's team appears to be the ability to find success away from the friendly comforts of Davenport Field. The 2004 edition of Virginia baseball, which finished the season with an overall record of 44-15 as well as an 18-6 conference mark, racked up an impressive 19-5 road record. Those Cavaliers completed a three-game sweep of a No. 17 Georgia Tech squad in Atlanta. In addition, the 2004 team swept Duke and Maryland on the road.
This season, however, the Cavaliers have been swept on the road by Wake Forest and then-No. 11 North Carolina. This ineffectiveness on the road does not bode well for the Cavaliers, who still have road trips to Clemson and Florida State on the schedule, as well as post-season tournaments away from Charlottesville.
Their inability to win on the road, however, is not the Cavaliers' only problem. Virginia was at home this weekend against a middle-of-the-tier N.C. State squad. These are games that teams like Virginia must win in order to stay in the thick of the conference standings. Virginia, however, dropped two of three games to the Wolfpack. Virginia's offense, which has been pedestrian at times this season, was anemic against N.C. State. The Cavaliers were able to muster only two runs on 16 hits over three games against the Wolfpack's pitching staff. There has been an especially conspicuous lack of clutch-hitting, and Virginia has left 253 runners on base compared to 191 left on by its opponents.
Several players have put forth less-than-stellar offensive numbers. While both are superb defensive players, catcher Scott Headd and second baseman Kyle Werman have been liabilities at the plate so far this season. Headd had a respectable .260 batting average in 2004 but has been slumping by comparison this season, with only a .211 average sitting next to his name on the stat sheet. Werman has also experienced a severe drop-off from his .271 batting last season. The senior has driven in only nine runs while hitting for a .238 average.
While these two are not the only Cavaliers struggling at the plate, their struggles clearly illustrate some of the offensive futility Virginia has been experiencing this year.
Virginia's pitching staff, which came into the weekend with the third-best ERA in the ACC at 3.15, has been excellent. Yet one has to be concerned with junior left-hander Mike Ballard's last two appearances. In his past two starts, at North Carolina and at home against N.C. State, Ballard (5-3) has given up 11 earned runs on 14 hits over ten and one-third innings pitched. There is no reason to panic, but Ballard will need to return to his stellar early-season form if the Cavaliers want to make some noise in the post-season.
The Cavaliers have the opportunity at home this week to accumulate two non-conference wins over Norfolk State and UMD-Eastern Shore. Victories in games such as these are critical in terms of building up Virginia's resume for an at-large NCAA bid.
Virginia now faces a turning point in its season. Up to this point, the Cavaliers have underperformed relative to their potential. The team appears on track to finish up the season as an average, rather than outstanding, ACC team. Nevertheless, with a lot of heart and some clutch-hitting, Virginia could still turn its season around and achieve something special.
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