Returning home after taking two of three from ACC foe Clemson, the Virginia baseball team is back in action tonight as the Cavaliers play host to in-state rival James Madison. Despite winning the series with the Tigers, the team was slightly disappointed about its failure to sweep.
"You're never completely satisfied unless you win them all," Virginia Coach Brian O'Connor said.
The quality wins, however, did boost the Cavaliers (34-9, 13-7 ACC)from No. 6 to No. 3 in the Baseball America national rankings, equaling their highest ranking this season.
Virginia will take on the Dukes (15-25, 7-12 CAA) for the second time this season. The two squads squared off in Harrisonburg earlier this season with the Cavaliers barely edging out the Dukes 6-5. With their last meeting in mind, the Cavaliers aren't taking this game for granted.
"You've got to be on your toes for any team," junior third baseman Patrick Wingfield said. "You know they're going to give us a good game."
JMU has caught fire recently, winning four of its last five and five of its last seven games, in large part due to its offense. Led by junior outfielder Kellen Kulbacki, the Dukes have scored more than 10 runs in five of their last seven games, including 21-run slugfests in two games. Junior starter Pat McAnaney and the rest of the Cavalier pitching staff will try to continue their solid pitching and keep the Dukes' bats under control. McAnaney is currently battling to raise his stock as a starting pitcher after missing the first half of the season due to injury. He is currently 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA in six appearances so far for the Cavaliers.
In addition to trying to defend against JMU's recent offensive surge, the Cavaliers also will attempt to right their own offensive ship. Virginia scored only nine runs against a strong Clemson pitching staff during the weekend and failed to capitalize on several occasions with men in scoring position.
"You can't expect to light up the scoreboard everyday," Wingfield said. "We had opportunities to score and get runners in scoring position that we didn't take advantage of and that's what we're disappointed in ... Hopefully we can get our bats going."
The Cavaliers will try to regain their offensive swagger in the final few weeks of play. They have three ACC series remaining before the conference tournament and are currently a half game behind North Carolina for the lead in the Coastal Division.
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