Today the Virginia baseball team will square off against Duke at Davenport Field for the first of a three-game series. The first pitch, scheduled for 7 p.m., will mark the start of the second game of the week for the Cavaliers, who lost Tuesday to VMI by a count of 5-2.
"You can't get down about the loss," sophomore Brandon Guyer said. "We played a good team.We had one bad inning. I wish we did have [another game against VMI] because I know right now it'd be a different outcome then it was."
The Cavaliers will now be faced with the challenge of bouncing back against a tough Blue Devil team. Duke enters tonight's game with an overall record of 21-11 and an ACC record of 2-10. No. 3 Virginia has tallied an impressive 27-6 overall record, going 8-4 in the conference.
It is evident that the Cavaliers hold the edge against the Blue Devils on paper.
"We're one of two schools in the country that is top 10 in runs scored and top 10 in, not just ERA [earned-run average], but fewest runs allowed," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "If we prepare properly, we've got the talent ... to have a chance to win the majority of the time."
A victory against the Blue Devils would mark the fourth time this season the Cavaliers have won a series against an ACC opponent. The only conference series Virginia has failed to win has been against Wake Forest -- one of the top teams in the country.
Last year, the Virginia squad took two of three games from Duke -- though the Blue Devils did not make it easy for the Cavaliers. Duke won the first game of the series on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning, defeating then-No. 18 Virginia, 4-3. The Cavaliers then proceeded to rally and win two straight against the Blue Devils.
This year, the Cavaliers will have to jump on the Blue Devils early in the series to avoid another first-game letdown. It will not be easy for the Cavaliers, however, as they will face a tough pitching staff.
"We'll face three pitchers against Duke like we did [against VMI] so we need to play good baseball," O'Connor said. "I know that if we have the right approach, and we get good starting pitching ... I'm going to be satisfied in the end."
Virginia's pitchers will have to be careful against a solid Duke offense. In their last game against Davidson, the Blue Devils put up a season-high 17 runs on 19 hits. Duke was led offensively by junior right fielder Jimmy Gallagher who went 4-6 with 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. On the season, Gallagher is on a tear. The junior from Pittsburgh has hit .370 on the season, racking up 44 hits -- 19 of which have been for extra bases.
Friday's probable pitching matchup is Duke's right-handed freshman Alexander Hassan (2-1, 2.86 ERA) going against Virginia's right-handed sophomore Jacob Thompson (7-0, 1.75 ERA). Saturday, the Blue Devils will put senior Tony Bajoczky (5-2, 2.68 ERA) on the hill to square off against Virginia freshman southpaw Matt Packer. The final game of the series Sunday will feature junior Sean Doolittle (5-2, 2.74 ERA) for the Cavaliers against a Duke pitcher yet to be determined.
The games are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
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