After a successful opening weekend against Lehigh, the Virginia baseball team (4-0) will play seven games in eight days, beginning with Coppin State Tuesday and Old Dominion Wednesday.
Coppin State (0-0) expected to come to town with at least two games under its belt, but its scheduled contests with Hofstra were rained out. Instead, the Eagles will open their season at Davenport Field Tuesday against Virginia at 4 p.m.
"It's another game on the schedule, and I'll probably play some different guys out there and pitch a bunch of guys that haven't had a chance to pitch yet and get their feet wet," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said of the match against the Eagles, who compiled a 0-44 record last season.
The Eagles fielded a team last year despite only having 11 players, two more than the maximum that can play at one time. This season, they will have significantly more depth with a 27-man roster, including six pitchers, up from last year's two-man staff.
Virginia will put senior Robert Poutier? on the mound in the right-hander's first start of the season.
Following their match against the Eagles, Virginia will face the Monarchs, preseason favorites to win the Colonial Athletic Association championship.
Old Dominion (1-1), which split a doubleheader against Rutgers to open its season this past weekend, will play North Carolina this afternoon before coming to Charlottesville for a 4 p.m. game Wednesday against the Cavaliers.
"They're ranked 25th in one of the polls," O'Connor said. "On paper, they look, out of these first six games, [to be] the most formidable opponent."
Virginia may have dodged a bullet with the scheduling, because both of the Monarchs' best pitchers were on the mound during Sunday's doubleheader with Rutgers. It is unlikely either one will be ready to pitch Wednesday.
Those two pitchers are junior Anthony Shawler, ranked as the No. 9 pitcher by Rivals.com, and junior pitcher Dan Hudson. Virginia junior pitcher Jacob Thompson is ranked the No. 1 pitcher by Rivals.
In his first appearance of the season, Shawler struck out 10 batters in six innings, while allowing no runs on just two hits.
Hudson, a 2007 first-team all-CAA player, gave up three runs, one earned and six hits in five innings.The right-hander also walked three and struck out three.
Virginia will counter with left-handed sophomore Matt Packer, who pitched two hitless innings in relief in Saturday's 5-1 victory against Lehigh.
Virginia will focus on continuing its offensive success against the two teams, seeking to taking advantage of weak spots in the rotation. The Cavaliers scored 27 runs in four games during the weekend.
The Cavaliers will also try to continue their dominance on the rubber and turf from this weekend, when the pitching and defense held opponents to one run per game. Only one Cavalier starting pitcher has given up an earned run, giving the starting rotation a miniscule earned run average (0.43).
With a tightly packed schedule to follow, the two upcoming games are important contests in Virginia's early season schedule.
"Ultimately, if we just come out and play good baseball, good things will happen," junior second baseman David Adams said.
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