The top-ranked Virginia baseball team plays host to two teams with dramatically different records this week as Georgetown and Coastal Carolina come to Charlottesville for back-to-back midweek matchups. The Hoyas are currently in last place in the Big East, while the Chanticleers sit atop the Big South standings.
"Coastal Carolina, year in and year out, is a very scrappy and quality ball club," senior infielder Tyler Biddix said. "They're a game in the middle of the week that always kinds of sticks out to us."
Last year, both Coastal Carolina and Virginia held College World Series aspirations, only to have their seasons cut short in the Super Regionals. The No. 4-seeded Chanticleers suffered defeat at the hands of eventual champion South Carolina, while the No. 5 seed Cavaliers fell against Oklahoma.
This year, Coastal Carolina (21-11, 7-2 Big South) still hopes to earn a bid to Omaha despite losing catcher Jose Iglesias and center fielder Rico Noel during the off-season. Iglesias knocked 16 homers and 80 RBIs during 2010, while Noel hit .349 with 12 long balls and 63 RBIs. Junior shortstop Taylor Motter, meanwhile, returned to the ball club after hitting .336 with 12 home runs during 2010, but has struggled to a .252 average in 2011. Without Motter's power, junior second baseman Tommy La Stella has stepped up at the plate with eight homers and a .365 batting average.
Much like their non-conference foes, the Cavaliers (31-3, 13-2 ACC) also are eying another College World Series run. The team has won 12 of its last 13 contests and is coming off a series win against highly-touted conference foe, No. 9 Georgia Tech.
"We feel confident; we've had a pretty good run recently," Biddix said. "We dropped a game Sunday ... but going to Atlanta to play a very, very quality Georgia Tech team [and] coming out of there with a series win is what we're trying to do every weekend."
Georgia Tech's weekend starters entered the series with a combined 1.47 ERA through 141 innings, while Virginia was forced to go without one of its more reliable hitters - senior first baseman Kenny Swab. Swab currently leads Virginia's offensive starters with a .465 on-base percentage, but missed the series because of a hand injury sustained during a play at the plate last Tuesday. Despite Swab's absence in the lineup, however, the Cavalier offense touched up the Yellow Jackets for 26 runs during the weekend. "[That series] shows that we can really play with anybody," junior pitcher Scott Silverstein said. "It sets us up well to come out to win a midweek game."
The team is especially confident that junior pitcher Will Roberts can build off the team's overall momentum in addition to his recent personal successes. Roberts is expected to start one of the midweek matchups, although his teammates recognize that he easily could handle starting during a weekend series against an ACC opponent.
"[Roberts] is a quality weekend guy who happens to be pitching on the weekday," Silverstein said. "He's gone out every game and done great things for our club. He's considered one of the nation's best midweek starters and could be possibly one of the best weekend starters."
Roberts has capitalized on his midweek opportunities, posting a 6-0 record and a 0.96 ERA. The right-hander also has exhibited pinpoint control during each of his outings, allowing just three walks through 46.2 innings of work.
"He's been as quality and consistent as a performer as we've had," Biddix said. "He throws a ton of strikes, is always crisp when he's on the mound and he always keeps us in ball games and gives us a chance to win our midweek games."
The Cavaliers will need consistency from Roberts and the rest of their staff if they hope to down both Coastal Carolina and Georgetown (18-16, 1-8 Big East). And while the Hoyas do not pose as much of a threat to the Cavaliers as do the Chanticleers, Virginia will treat them with the same intensity as they do any other opponent.
The Hoyas jumped out to an early lead against the Cavaliers last season, but failed to hold on against the then-No. 1 Cavaliers.
"As far as Georgetown goes, we played them last year and they're another great game," Biddix said. "There really is no rollover opponent that we played, so every time that we play we need to make sure we bring our best game to the ballpark."
The Cavaliers' Tuesday matchup against Georgetown is slated to begin at 6 p.m., while the Wednesday contest against Coastal Carolina is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.
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