Virginia crept inside D1baseball.com’s Top 100 RPI for the first time this season after defeating Liberty, 14-3, on Wednesday night at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers now sit at No. 99. It’s a positive step, but there’s a long way to go for Virginia to make its 15th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
That’s why a crucial weekend series awaits the Cavaliers (22-16, 7-11 ACC), when they travel to Louisville (25-11, 9-9 ACC) for three games. The two teams will play Friday at 6 p.m., then play on both Saturday and Sunday with 1 p.m. first pitch times.
UVa has yet to win a road series, and is 2-9 as a whole on the road. Louisville is a perennial power that has had an interesting season.
Scouting Louisville
The Cardinals started the season looking like the best team in the country, jumping out to a 14-0 record. But the team came back down to earth, losing four straight ACC series to Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State and N.C. State.
But since that time, Louisville has recaptured its magic, winning five games in a row, including a clean sweep at Virginia Tech last weekend and a win over rival Kentucky on Tuesday.
The Cardinals have been one of the best programs in college baseball, having won at least a regional every year since 2012. Louisville won 53 games last season and advanced to the College World Series. Head coach Dan McDonnell won 509 games though his first 11 seasons.
Like Virginia though, this Louisville team does not hit for power. The Cardinals have connected on just 19 home runs this season, while the pitching staff has given up just 19. That said, Louisville gets on base at a .392 clip and has two hitters — Danny Oriente and Logan Wyatt — that get hits in more than one-third of their at-bats.
All three of Louisville’s weekend starters are shutdown pitchers. Two have ERAs below 1.50, and the third is at 2.36. The team has used different starters throughout the season, but those three have settled into their role.
Probable pitchers
Friday
» Virginia: RHP Derek Casey (5-2, 3.05 ERA, 62.0 IP, 13 BB, 74 SO)
» Louisville: LHP Adam Wolf (4-2, 2.36 ERA, 53.1 IP, 17 BB, 63 SO)
Casey is proving to be Virginia’s ace. The Cavaliers have won his last three starts and he hasn’t given up a run in 15 innings entering Friday’s outing. He threw a complete-game shutout against Virginia Tech and had six shutout innings against North Carolina. Wolf has been nearly as good, giving up just two runs over his last 13 innings in two starts. He’s the only member of the rotation to start every game he’s pitched in this season.
Saturday
» Virginia: LHP Daniel Lynch (2-3, 4.15 ERA, 60.2 IP, 14 BB, 75 SO)
» Louisville: LHP Nick Bennett (4-0, 1.45 ERA, 31.0 IP, 10 BB, 35 SO)
The Cavaliers have lost the last four games that Lynch has pitched in during ACC play. Still, he’s been very solid. Lynch battled through 119 pitches and gave Virginia a chance to win on Saturday against North Carolina. The Cavaliers came back to prevent him from getting the loss, but eventually fell to UNC. Bennett hasn’t always been a starter, but he looked like one last week, throwing eight innings against the Hokies without allowing an earned run.
Sunday
» Virginia: TBA
» Louisville: RHP Bobby Miller (4-1, 1.13 ERA, 24.0 IP, 9 BB, 22 SO)
TBA has become a constant for Virginia this season. It’s likely going to be Grant Donahue for the Cavaliers, even though he recorded just one out against UNC last Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cavaliers’ pitching corps was stretched thin with 21 weekday innings. Donahue has one of the freshest arms. Miller hasn’t gone more than six innings in any appearance this season. He also hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any appearance, and has allowed only three earned runs this season.
Stat to know
Louisville has three players that rank in the Top 5 in the ACC in stolen bases. Josh Stowers has 23, Jake Snider has 17 and Tyler Fitzgerald has 15. Conversely, with Jake McCarthy out, the Cavaliers have only 26 stolen bases this season in total.
News and notes
» Noah Murdock was supposed to pitch on Wednesday against Liberty, head coach Brian O’Connor said last week. However, he did not enter the game. O’Connor said it was because he simply didn’t want to use him.
» McCarthy, who was thought to possibly come back as early as last weekend, is not progressing from his injury as quickly as anticipated and is out for the foreseeable future.
» Caleb Knight returned from an undisclosed injury, but has since been taken back out of the lineup. He likely won’t be available in the short team, at least.
» Cameron Comer entered the Virginia Tech series hitting below .200. He’s batting .273 two weeks later and connected on a 3-run homer on Wednesday.
» The Cardinals took 2-of-3 from then-No. 16 Virginia at Davenport Field last season.
» In Andrew Abbott’s last six innings, he hasn’t allowed a baserunner and has 10 strikeouts.