Boston College (18-15, 4-11 ACC) arrives in Charlottesville this weekend in what will be its first series against the Cavaliers (28-9, 8-7 ACC) as a conference opponent. Virginia coach Brian O'Connor, however, is already extremely familiar with the Boston College. As an assistant coach at Notre Dame for 10 years, O'Connor had to duel with the Eagles on a yearly basis in Big East conference play.
"I know that program pretty well," O'Connor said. "Every game this weekend is going to be a dogfight."
Boston College has had a tough year in its inaugural season of ACC play. The Eagles currently dwell in last place of the ACC's Atlantic division. Their brightest moment in conference play came when they swept Virginia Tech March 24-26 in Blacksburg. In general, however, the Eagles have struggled mightily, getting swept by N.C. State, Wake Forest and Florida State. The Eagles are currently riding a two-game winning streak after midweek victories over Connecticut and Harvard.
"You can't judge a team by its record," junior right fielder Brandon Marsh said. "They've lost a lot of close games."
The Cavaliers currently find themselves tied for third place with Georgia Tech in the ACC's Coastal Division, behind North Carolina (9-6) and Miami (9-6) with five conference series remaining. A sweep of Boston College would put the Cavaliers in a great position heading into next weekend's showdown with Miami in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes have shown vulnerability at home this season, notching a middling 4-5 record at Mark Light Field. After the road trip to Miami, Virginia still has a road series at Maryland remaining as well as home weekends against North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Virginia will look to continue its well-balanced offensive attack against a Boston College pitching staff with a 4.60 earned run average. Three different Cavaliers lead Virginia in the three main offensive categories. Marsh continues to lead Virginia's offense with a .430 batting average. Sophomore left fielder Brandon Guyer leads the squad with 36 RBI and freshman second baseman David Adams has infused power into the lineup with five home runs.
Game times for the Boston College series are 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Virginia is expected to send Sean Doolittle (5-1) to the mound Friday, followed by Jacob Thompson (6-1) Saturday and Mike Ballard (5-2) Sunday.
After a tougher than expected 6-4 win over Longwood Wednesday, the Cavaliers understand that they will have to play their best in order to defeat Boston College.
"I think these games are going to be a lot like the Longwood game," Marsh said. "I expect that it's going to be a tough weekend but I think that we're going to come out on top."
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