After a tough weekend series, the University of Virginia baseball team will look to begin a winning streak this evening against Dayton.
The Cavaliers lost two out of three games to Georgia Tech, including a 7-6 defeat Saturday after blowing a 5-2 lead. They did, however, bounce back to defeat the Yellow Jackets 6-3 Sunday behind six strong innings from pitcher Sean Doolittle.
"We feel good about the win we got on Sunday, and we look to build on that," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said.
The Flyers, who currently have a 7-6 record on the season, have done very well in the last couple years. They are the defending Atlantic 10 tournament champions and have won the tournament three of the past five years.
"They are a good team," O'Connor said. "Hopefully we will be ready to come out to play."
Even though all weekend series until the NCAA tournament will be against ACC teams, the team will not treat this non-conference game differently.
"Obviously the ACC games count the most," O'Connor said. "However, every game is important, so we won't treat this game any differently. We need this game to build momentum for the rest of the season."
Virginia outfielder Brandon Guyer agreed with his coach's assertion. Guyer is one of many returning players that remembers the Cavaliers' dominance in mid-week games in 2005.
"You've got to take it one game at a time," Guyer said. "Anything can happen in any given day, and you've got to look at them like every other game."
One new factor that the Cavaliers will have to face this afternoon is potentially playing baseball at Davenport Field when it is dark. O'Connor does not believe it will be much of a factor, though.
"The 5:00 start won't really make much of a difference," O'Connor said. "7:00 underneath the lights is a little bit different, but it's the same game, and a lot of times at night the later that we go, the better our crowds will be."
Another factor that might affect the Cavaliers is wind gusts that could range from 15-25 miles per hour.
"It will affect the hitters," Guyer said. "If it's blowing in, you can't really try to hit home runs, you've got to play small ball."
O'Connor -- who won his 100th game in a Virginia uniform Sunday -- was pleased with the offense of the Cavaliers so far, but feels some aspects of the starting pitching can be improved for this afternoon's game.
"I thought we swung the bats very well, and our offensive output has been outstanding," O'Connor said. "We need to continue to get consistent starts. Consistent starts and not walking batters are the keys to having success."
Pat McAnaney will get the start for the Cavaliers today. In McAnaney's last start Feb. 26 against the College of Charleston, he went only three innings, allowing six hits and four runs. The team, however, has confidence that McAnaney will succeed.
"Whenever he pitches, I feel good," Guyer said. "I know he is going to go out and give us a great performance."
The Cavaliers need McAnaney to pitch a strong performance as they look to build a winning streak before the Clemson series this weekend.
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