CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the sixth-straight week, Virginia (11-0, 2-0 ACC) graces the No. 1 position in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media and USILA coaches polls, receiving all possible No. 1 votes after topping then No. 2 North Carolina at the New Meadowlands on April 10, clinching a share of the ACC regular season crown. UVA returns home to conclude ACC play, hosting the Duke Blue Devils (10-3, 0-2 ACC) on Saturday evening, inside Klöckner Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
The game will also be broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA AM 1070 with John Freeman calling the action and Doug Tarring doing the color broadcast. ESPNU will televise the contest in HD with Carter Blackburn providing the play-by-play, along with Paul Carcaterra serving as the color analyst. Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Saturday marks the 71st all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and the Blue Devils, a series that began in 1938 and which the Cavaliers own a 48-22 advantage. Facing each other every year since 1972 – save the 2006 season, UVA is looking to end a seven-game losing streak to Duke. Despite the current losing streak to Duke, UVA has won more games in program history against Duke than any other school.
Virginia opened up ACC play for the second-straight year 2-0, defeating No. 4 Maryland (April 3) in College Park, Md., 11-10, and topping No. 2 North Carolina (April 10) at the Big City Classic, 7-5, inside the New Meadowlands. Goalie Adam Ghitelman made 12 saves on 47 UNC shots taken, allowing only five goals, a season low for the Tar Heels. Ghitelman was named ACC Player of the Week for his exploits while Steele Stanwick scored a game-high three goals and four points.
Chris Bocklet leads Virginia with 31 goals and 40 points on the season, while Stanwick (39 points) holds the team lead with 20 assists and is second on the team with 19 goals. Brian Carroll is third on the team with 16 goals. Rhamel Bratton has chipped in 15 scores, while freshman Matt White has 13 goals and has tallied at least one point in every game of his young collegiate career. Ken Clausen has a team-best 39 ground balls and his 2.27 caused turnovers per game ranks No. 4 nationally. Goalie Adam Ghitelman is saving 54.9 percent of the shots against him, while posting a 7.39 goals-against average.
Duke head coach John Danowski is in his fourth season at Duke and returns 31 letter-winners and seven starters from last year’s NCAA semifinals team that went 15-4. The Blue Devils are currently ranked No. 5 in both the media and coaches poll, sharing the spot in the media poll with Princeton. Saturday’s game marks fourth game this season Duke has been the lower ranked team, holding a 1-2 record in such contests.
Max Quinzani leads the Duke attack with 45 goals and 53 total points. Ned Crotty ranks No. 2 nationally with 2.92 assists per game, assisted 38 scores. Zach Howell has also poured 31 goals and 12 assists into the Blue Devil offensive books this season. Dan Wigrizer is saving 55.0 percent of shots on goal, while registering a 9.18 goals against average in between the pipes.
Virginia returns to action on April 23 at the ACC Tournament hosted by Maryland. Following the conclusion of Saturday’s game, the league will release the bracket for the ACC Tournament. The event will take place at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md., with the semifinals round on April 23, followed by the ACC finals on April 25.
Baseball Preview
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (27-8, 10-5 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Sat. – RHP Robert Morey (4-2, 4.40 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Cody Winiarski (4-0, 4.70 ERA)
VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (24-11, 8-7 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Sat. – RHP Matthew Price (4-2, 5.75 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Jesse Hahn (5-2, 2.28 ERA)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia baseball team will entertain 20th-ranked Virginia Tech in a three-game ACC series this weekend at Davenport Field. The first-ever series between the rivals when both are ranked begins at 7 p.m. Friday and will be followed by games at 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
All three games will be broadcast live on WINA 1070-AM in Charlottesville and with a V Pass subscription at VirginiaSports.com. Live statistics also will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia (27-8, 10-5 ACC) has won four of its five ACC series this season. Three of the series wins have come against Top-10 opponents – Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech. UVa has been especially tough at home this season, going 20-3 thus far.
After his 20th multiple-hit game of the season on Wednesday night, Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) ranks sixth in the ACC with a .393 batting average. Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) ranks ninth in the ACC with a .383 average. Stephen Bruno (Fr., Audubon, N.J.) enters the weekend with a 15-game hitting streak, which is the longest by a Virginia freshman since Brandon Guyer recorded hits in 15 straight games in 2005.
Virginia is tied with Georgia Tech for the ACC lead in batting with a .341 average, while the Cavaliers rank fourth in the conference with a 3.89 team ERA.
Virginia Tech (24-11, 8-7) is one of the ACC’s hottest teams following series wins over Florida State and Miami the last two weeks. Austin Wates leads the conference with a .416 batting average, while Steve Domecus has a team-high nine homers and 14 doubles to go along with a .360 batting average.
The Hokies are batting .330 as a team (fourth in the ACC) and also have a 4.16 team ERA (fifth in the conference).
The teams played an entertaining series last year in Blacksburg, with Virginia Tech breaking a 12-game losing streak to the Cavaliers by winning two of three games for their first ACC series win over UVa. The Hokies earned a pair of one-run wins before UVa picked up a 6-4 victory in the series finale. Virginia owns an 83-74 edge in the all-time series.
Davenport Field has a seating capacity of 4,219 after the addition of 679 General Admission seats last week. Fans planning to attend games this weekend are strongly encouraged to arrive early and purchase tickets ahead of time online at VirginiaSports.com to avoid lines. The ticket booth and gates to Davenport Field will open two hours prior to first pitch each day.
-UVA SID Official Releases
