This is actually my first mention of the UVa baseball team this season so less of an update and more of a here's what's happening.
This season has been a disappointing one for the Cavaliers but has definitely been interesting. Virginia is only 26-15, not a bad record, but sub-par for a team that has gotten used to winning 40-plus games, advancing through NCAA regionals and getting to the College World Series. For a refresher, UVa made it all the way to the final game of the College World Series finals last year, losing to Vanderbilt, 3-2.
The team won its first 10 games this season but problems struck and the 'Hoos lost eight of their next 12 games, including getting swept by Virginia Tech, losing 14-5 at home to Old Dominion, and falling by a 1-0 score at home vs. Georgetown.
This squad came into the season with a good core of returning starting pitching -- Nathan Kirby, Brandon Waddell, and Connor Jones and also Josh Sborz, who was moved to the closer role -- but inexperience at plenty of other positions. Only Kenny Towns at third base, Daniel Pinero at shortstop, and Robbie Coman at catcher were regular or semi-regular starters in the field coming into 2015.
Two experienced players who should have started in the field from the beginning were outfielder Joe McCarthy and utility man John La Prise, but both were hit by injuries in the preseason. La Prise is not going to see the field this year but McCarthy did come back for the William & Mary game last week and has had an impact since as the team has gone 5-1 with him in the lineup. He's batting .263 but has an on-base percentage of .500. He is likely going to skip his final season next year and go to the baseball draft but the good news is he has a brother named Jake, also a good ball player, also coming to UVa, and he is going to be a freshman in the fall.
Additionally, a key freshman, Jack Gerstenmaier, who was expected to contribute this season, broke his leg in September but came back like McCarthy against W&M and has played well since, batting .333 with four RBIs while playing second base.
Another key freshman worth mentioning is Adam Haseley. He pitched four innings against Liberty on Wednesday and gave up no runs in four innings for the win in just his fourth pitching appearance of the year. His normal position this year has been center field and he is hitting .278 with 16 RBIs.
Unfortunately, Virginia not only started the season with some injuries but has suffered through a very abnormal number of injuries during the year. This seems more like an injury list for a football team. Players who have gotten hurt since the season started (and I might have missed a couple): catcher/DH Matt Thaiss (currently playing); freshman pitcher Derek Casey (currently out and unclear if he will return), who had turned into a reliable mid-week starter and was 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA; freshman infielder Ernie Clement (currently back but playing behind Gerstenmaier); and Coman (currently playing and batting .275 with 13 RBIs and an upgrade on defense over Thaiss).
The big one, though, is Kirby, who strained his left lat (near his armpit). He is out six to eight weeks after leaving last Friday's game against Miami early so he will likely only play again this season if Virginia was to advance deep into the postseason. He is a junior, too, and is likely headed to the draft after this season. He was Virginia's best starting pitcher so far this season as the Friday anchor, holding a 5-2 record and 2.28 ERA.
Virginia's rotation for its road series this weekend at N.C. State is Jones as the Friday starter, Waddell as the Saturday guy, and TBA for Sunday. The Cavaliers are in a tight spot right now in the ACC with a 9-12 record, though they have been playing better recently as I stated, taking one on the road from a quality Georgia Tech team two weekends ago and taking two out of three against a top-10 Miami team last weekend at home.
Standings: http://www.theacc.com/standings/#/m-basebl/2014
Only eight teams make the ACC tournament so Virginia needs to be sharp down the stretch to even get into it. If the Wahoos don't make the ACC tourney, then making the NCAA tourney is probably just a pipe dream. I don't know the precedent for teams making the NCAA tourney after missing their conference tourney but it can't be good (though maybe a parallel is the NCAA hoops tourney). So UVa needs to at least make the ACC tourney in my estimation. If not, its run of making 11 straight NCAA tournaments will end there.
N.C. State is one of the teams jockeying for position with UVa at 21-17, 9-11. Virginia's final two ACC series are against Duke at home (5-15 conference mark) and UNC on the road (10-10 in ACC). So these three series are all winnable for the Wahoos and they would be wise to win at least two of them. Virginia also still has mid-week games against Old Dominion and Richmond, Winning those would not hurt the Cavs' chances of making the NCAA tournament either. Richmond is 20-15. ODU is just 19-21 but already won at UVa this season as I pointed out and also just beat Richmond, 11-5.
This season has been a disappointing one for the Cavaliers but has definitely been interesting. Virginia is only 26-15, not a bad record, but sub-par for a team that has gotten used to winning 40-plus games, advancing through NCAA regionals and getting to the College World Series. For a refresher, UVa made it all the way to the final game of the College World Series finals last year, losing to Vanderbilt, 3-2.
The team won its first 10 games this season but problems struck and the 'Hoos lost eight of their next 12 games, including getting swept by Virginia Tech, losing 14-5 at home to Old Dominion, and falling by a 1-0 score at home vs. Georgetown.
This squad came into the season with a good core of returning starting pitching -- Nathan Kirby, Brandon Waddell, and Connor Jones and also Josh Sborz, who was moved to the closer role -- but inexperience at plenty of other positions. Only Kenny Towns at third base, Daniel Pinero at shortstop, and Robbie Coman at catcher were regular or semi-regular starters in the field coming into 2015.
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| I think it's pretty safe to say this has been coach Brian O'Connor's most challenging season in Charlottesville. Still, his team has won five of six and stands a chance of making the NCAA tourney. |
Two experienced players who should have started in the field from the beginning were outfielder Joe McCarthy and utility man John La Prise, but both were hit by injuries in the preseason. La Prise is not going to see the field this year but McCarthy did come back for the William & Mary game last week and has had an impact since as the team has gone 5-1 with him in the lineup. He's batting .263 but has an on-base percentage of .500. He is likely going to skip his final season next year and go to the baseball draft but the good news is he has a brother named Jake, also a good ball player, also coming to UVa, and he is going to be a freshman in the fall.
Additionally, a key freshman, Jack Gerstenmaier, who was expected to contribute this season, broke his leg in September but came back like McCarthy against W&M and has played well since, batting .333 with four RBIs while playing second base.
Another key freshman worth mentioning is Adam Haseley. He pitched four innings against Liberty on Wednesday and gave up no runs in four innings for the win in just his fourth pitching appearance of the year. His normal position this year has been center field and he is hitting .278 with 16 RBIs.
Unfortunately, Virginia not only started the season with some injuries but has suffered through a very abnormal number of injuries during the year. This seems more like an injury list for a football team. Players who have gotten hurt since the season started (and I might have missed a couple): catcher/DH Matt Thaiss (currently playing); freshman pitcher Derek Casey (currently out and unclear if he will return), who had turned into a reliable mid-week starter and was 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA; freshman infielder Ernie Clement (currently back but playing behind Gerstenmaier); and Coman (currently playing and batting .275 with 13 RBIs and an upgrade on defense over Thaiss).
The big one, though, is Kirby, who strained his left lat (near his armpit). He is out six to eight weeks after leaving last Friday's game against Miami early so he will likely only play again this season if Virginia was to advance deep into the postseason. He is a junior, too, and is likely headed to the draft after this season. He was Virginia's best starting pitcher so far this season as the Friday anchor, holding a 5-2 record and 2.28 ERA.
Virginia's rotation for its road series this weekend at N.C. State is Jones as the Friday starter, Waddell as the Saturday guy, and TBA for Sunday. The Cavaliers are in a tight spot right now in the ACC with a 9-12 record, though they have been playing better recently as I stated, taking one on the road from a quality Georgia Tech team two weekends ago and taking two out of three against a top-10 Miami team last weekend at home.
Standings: http://www.theacc.com/standings/#/m-basebl/2014
Only eight teams make the ACC tournament so Virginia needs to be sharp down the stretch to even get into it. If the Wahoos don't make the ACC tourney, then making the NCAA tourney is probably just a pipe dream. I don't know the precedent for teams making the NCAA tourney after missing their conference tourney but it can't be good (though maybe a parallel is the NCAA hoops tourney). So UVa needs to at least make the ACC tourney in my estimation. If not, its run of making 11 straight NCAA tournaments will end there.
N.C. State is one of the teams jockeying for position with UVa at 21-17, 9-11. Virginia's final two ACC series are against Duke at home (5-15 conference mark) and UNC on the road (10-10 in ACC). So these three series are all winnable for the Wahoos and they would be wise to win at least two of them. Virginia also still has mid-week games against Old Dominion and Richmond, Winning those would not hurt the Cavs' chances of making the NCAA tournament either. Richmond is 20-15. ODU is just 19-21 but already won at UVa this season as I pointed out and also just beat Richmond, 11-5.
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