After an ACC series loss this weekend, the Virginia baseball team remains in Charlottesville for a two-day set Tuesday and Wednesday against Towson.
Towson (12-10, 1-2 CAA) will be a tough competitor in the midweek for Virginia. Last year, the two teams split the matchup, as the Cavaliers won by a run and lost by the same margin.
This season, however, Virginia has produced better offensively and put up an impressive .970 fielding percentage.
Starting Tuesday for the Cavaliers will be junior left-handed pitcher Jeff Lorick, who will seek to improve his record to 3-0. Freshman John Hicks, currently hitting .361, will most likely be behind the plate.
Lorick and the Cavaliers will have to be cautious of Towson’s ability to hit home runs, as the Tigers have hit 35 long balls this season. Senior second baseman Gary Helmick, boasting an .815 slugging percentage and six home runs, is a particularly dangerous batter for the Tigers.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Tyler Austin could possibly start for Towson. Austin averages nearly 1 K per inning, and has a 1-1 record. Junior left-handed pitcher Wes Shifflett also is likely for the series, as he possesses an ERA a little more than half of Austin’s.
To find success against the Tigers, the Cavaliers (19-2, 5-2 ACC) will need to bounce back from this weekend’s down-to-the-wire losses. The team’s losses Saturday and Sunday to Miami snapped a school-record 19-game winning streak. Virginia lost 4-3 in the ninth inning Saturday after a bases-loaded dropped third strike, and ACC travel rules prevented the Cavaliers from playing a full game Sunday.
In both games, Virginia came from behind and put people on base to keep itself in the game. Trouble getting runners home, though, contributed to the team’s first series loss.
Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said he is not concerned, though, about the team’s offensive production.
“I think we’ve proven something over the last couple of weeks,” O’Connor said. “When we get challenged within a game, we’ve got it in our gut to battle back, and that’s really important.”
Overall, Virginia showed perseverance during the Miami series, but its best offensive player this season struggled to produce.
The end of the Cavaliers’ winning streak marked the end of sophomore right-fielder Dan Grovatt’s 21-game hitting streak, which had continued from last season. Grovatt, who leads Virginia’s batting lineup with a .417 batting average, went a mere 1-for-12 with seven strike-outs in the series.
“That’s what I told the team after the game [Sunday],” O’Connor said. “We had opportunities to step up for their teammates and we didn’t do it.”
Virginia definitely will bounce back, though, O’Connor said, as the team has eight starters batting .350 or better.
“I’ve got complete confidence in these guys, and they’ve done it before and they’ll do it down the road,” O’Connor said.
“We can’t get down on ourselves after what happened,” said freshman first baseman Danny Hultzen, who also pitched Friday to earn the only win against Miami. “It’d be great to have a little energy,” Hultzen said.
Against Towson, Hultzen could provide the offensive spark the Cavaliers need. Against Miami he went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, and he also has an outstanding on-base percentage of almost 52 percent.
“We’ve just gotta keep our confidence up and get after it on Tuesday,” Hultzen said.
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