Virginia's No. 18 baseball team snapped an 18-game home winning streak in its 17-5 blowout loss Wednesday to George Washington University. With three home games at Davenport Field against Virginia Tech this weekend, the Cavaliers have a chance to return to their winning ways and prove the big loss was a fluke. Virginia will suit up against the Hokies Friday night at 6, Saturday afternoon at 1 and Sunday afternoon at 1.
After a five-run burst by Virginia (20-5, 5-4 ACC) in the first inning Wednesday, the Colonials slowly worked their way back to take a 6-5 advantage in the fourth inning. Despite George Washington's momentum, the Cavaliers were still in the familiar territory of a close game: Virginia had won four of its previous five games by two or fewer runs. Instead of displaying the mettle the Cavaliers had shown in those close victories, however, they collapsed and fell for the first time this season at Davenport Field.
Junior first baseman Jeremy Farrell, who leads the team in home runs and slugging percentage, said the team already has moved on from Wednesday's loss.
"This is baseball; we're obviously not going to go 56-0," Farrell said. "At this point, we're 20-5. We're going to focus on the positives and get back out there this weekend."
Though the Hokies (8-15, 0-9 ACC) have only one win in their past 14 games, that victory came in their last game, an 18-11 slugfest against JMU Tuesday. Virginia Tech, like the Cavaliers Wednesday, allowed the opponent to remain close into the game's middle innings. Unlike Virginia, though, the Hokies scored runs consistently throughout the game. The Hokies capped their impressive offensive performance with a six-run ninth inning.
Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said the Cavaliers will have to perform at the top of their game to overcome the Hokies' recent offensive effectiveness.
"Virginia Tech has swung the bats very, very well the last three ballgames and scored a lot of runs," O'Connor said. "We're going to have to be better [than we were Wednesday]."
Virginia is the favorite in the weekend series because the Cavaliers haven't lost to a sub-.500 opponent -- nor to a conference opponent -- at home this season; however,Virginia Tech, even with its 0-9 ACC record, could still threaten the Cavaliers.
The 0-9 record "is deceiving. They've played Florida State, at Georgia Tech, and UNC -- three of the better teams in the league," O'Connor said. In "two of the Florida State games, they were winning by significant runs in the middle of the ballgame."
Starting for Virginia Friday will be junior right-hander Jacob Thompson. Thompson last pitched March 21 in a 7-3 victory against Boston College, rising to 3-0 on the season.
"I thought that [Thompson] threw the ball really well last weekend," O'Connor said."I know that he'll be ready to go Friday night."
In the highly competitive ACC, where Virginia's third-place division standing is still strong enough to justify a top-25 national ranking, every conference game is crucial both for seeding in the ACC Tournament and building momentum going into the postseason. Though Virginia must work off a disappointing loss and Virginia Tech boasts an impressive victory, the Cavaliers are poised to come out strong against the Hokies.
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