In their ninth game of a ten-game homestand, the Virginia baseball team will take on Coppin State this afternoon at 4.
The Cavaliers (22-5, 6-3 ACC) are off to their best start in team history. After winning eight of their last nine games, the Cavs are now ranked No. 14 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Compared to last year, when the Cavaliers got off to a shaky start, losing ten of their first 15 ACC ballgames, the Cavaliers seem to have everything going good right now.
"Last year we had a little bit of growing pains early on," senior starting pitcher Mike Ballard said. "This year with the whole team chemistry guys have really come together a lot earlier than last year. We are firing on all cylinders right now."
Coppin State, on the other hand, is not having as good a year. Even though they took the series in their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener against Maryland -- Eastern Shore this past weekend, they have only won six games and lost 21 and tied one. They do, however, possess a couple of key players.
Outfielder Ryan Deakyne leads the team with a .378 batting average, 25 RBI's and three triples. Fellow outfielder Corey Greene is second on the team in batting average, triples and RBIs and leads the team with four homeruns.
Josh Myers will have the opportunity to stop the Eagles today. Myers, a senior out of Chesapeake, Va., is starting his second game of the season. In his previous start March 7 against Maryland Eastern Shore, he only went three innings but did not allow a single run, walk or hit and struck out four. On the year, Myers is 1-1, appearing in three games and only allowing one run all year in seven innings.
Even though the Cavaliers played well against Wake Forest, there are some things that the Cavaliers could look to improve on in their upcoming games. The Cavaliers are known as a small-ball team, but there were several instances in the game against the Demon Deacons when the Cavaliers failed to execute bunts.
"We take pride in being able to execute that small game," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "We did not do that [yesterday] at times. Sometimes you don't get the job done, but the guys didn't give up, that is what was important."
Another question mark for today's game is the status of outfielder Tim Henry. Henry was hit in the knee by a pitch in the eighth inning, limped off the field and did not return to the game again.
"It's not the first time that this has happened," O'Connor said. "Hopefully he is able to bounce back. He's a tough kid. He'll play through anything, and hopefully he'll be ready to play [today]."
The Cavaliers look to finish off their homestand tomorrow against Norfolk State when Pat McAnaney goes out to the mound. Even though dangerous N.C. State lurks in the horizon, the players realize what they have to do these next two days.
"[O'Connor] has pointed out to us in the off-season that you have go to work hard every day," David Adams said. "There are no off-days. Every day is a big day."
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