The Virginia baseball team started out well in its three-game set last weekend, with wins over Elon and North Florida. The Cavaliers' unfortunate loss to Coastal Carolina has left Virginia eager to get back on the field and prove itself again as a top team nationally. Because of the subsequent cancellation of Virginia's game against Longwood, the Cavaliers have had an even longer layoff than usual between games.
"You can't do anything about the weather," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "Anytime you suffer a tough loss, you want to get right back out there, and we didn't get that opportunity, but our guys will be hungry and they'll be ready to get after it this weekend."
Virginia's opponent this weekend will be George Washington. Though the series was originally scheduled for Friday through Sunday, the Cavaliers will instead play Saturday through Monday because of inclement weather. The Cavaliers' experience will be an important asset, as G.W. has been hit hard by graduation the past few years. Four senior pitchers left to play professional baseball, and the new roster features 14 freshmen, the largest number in recent memory.
In addition, G.W. has not played any games yet this year, while Virginia already has the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament under its belt. The Colonials still have good players, however, including closer-turned-starting pitcher Derek Haese, the lone senior on the pitching staff. Haese posted a solid 2.09 earned-run average but fell three innings short of qualifying for the national top 50. Beyond Haese, G.W. fields a young pitching staff.
The Colonials' top position player is junior outfielder Charlie Kruer, who led the team in the most important offensive categories: hits, home runs and runs batted in.
"We come up with a game plan for the whole team based on the way their lineup is ordered," Virginia junior pitcher Sean Doolittle said. "The 3-4-5 guys are going to get hits just because they're the best hitters on the team. What we try to control is the 1-2, 6-7-8-9 batters as far as trying to keep them off base, so that when the 3-4-5 guys come up, if they hit a double, it doesn't matter. I would imagine that [Kruer] is going to have a handful of hits this weekend, but we've got to control the guys around him and make sure that he doesn't hurt us."
Other impact players on G.W.'s roster include junior shortstop Michael Parker, who has held down the position for the past three years, and Mickey Shupin, senior outfielder and leadoff hitter, who led the Atlantic 10 with 24 stolen bases last year.
George Washington had a surge near the end of last season to finish 25-34, but fell short of its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002. Virginia plans to attack its young pitchers to gain an edge in the early innings, which would go a long way toward securing three wins in the series.
"You can't let them get comfortable, you've got to jump on them right away, and hopefully take advantage of some mistakes," O'Connor said. "Whether a guy's a freshman or a senior, pitching's pitching."
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