Virginia opens ACC Tournament pool play on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against No. 6 seed Florida State. UVa will function as the road team. The No. 10-seeded Cavaliers also will play No. 3 seed N.C. State on Thursday at 3 p.m., and will function as the home team.
Prior to the tournament beginning, UVa second-baseman Andy Weber was named to the All-ACC first team. Starting pitcher Derek Casey was named to the All-ACC third team, while shortstop Tanner Morris and reliever Andrew Abbott were named to the All-Freshman team.
Here are some things to know about the Cavaliers’ opponents in pool play of the ACC Tournament:
Scouting Florida State
FSU is the No. 9 team in the nation, but the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament. The Seminoles won their first 14 games this season before abruptly losing four games in a row to Wake Forest, Florida and Notre Dame.
They also had a five-game losing streak in the middle of the season that included two losses to Georgia Tech and two losses to Duke. Since then, though, the Seminoles have been playing their typically great baseball as they look to score a spot as a host, and potentially as a national seed, in the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Mike Martin became the winningest head coach in Division I history after defeating Clemson several weeks ago.
“I can honestly say, in all my years, this is the strongest year for college baseball, that I’ve ever seen,” Martin said on Monday. “All over the country, you have outstanding teams. And there are 12 very good teams in this conference tournament.”
The Seminoles are very good, but they can be beat. Jackson Lueck leads the team with 14 homers, but he’s hitting just .245. Cal Raleigh and Drew Mendoza are the only two FSU hitters batting above .300 on the season.
Virginia needs beat to Florida State to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive, and the Cavaliers got a big break in potentially making that happen.
Martin will not use ace left-hander Drew Parrish as the starting pitcher. The lefty-heavy Cavaliers lineup might have struggled, as most do, against Parrish.
Instead, it will be either freshman lefty Austin Pollock or freshman righty C.J. Van Eyk taking the mound for FSU. Pollock has a 5.68 ERA and Van Eyk has four career starts. Either way, UVa’s chances improve significantly with the Seminoles tossing a less-than-experienced and less-than-stellar starter.
Scouting N.C. State
The rise of N.C. State this season can really be traced back to its three-game road sweep of then-No. 2 Clemson in mid-March. Until that point, it had been a good start, but the Wolfpack had losses to teams such as Seton Hall, Canisius and Boston College.
N.C. State got swept by North Carolina, and just lost 2-of-3 to Florida State. As of now, the Wolfpack are trying to sew up a spot as a regional host in the NCAA Tournament. And they likely safely have that locked up, but a win or two couldn’t hurt their cause.
N.C. State has four hitters — Josh McLain, Patrick Bailey, Brock Deatherage and Will Wilson — all hitting above .300. Five of their hitters have at least 10 home runs — no Virginia player has more than five. They have 80 total this season, led by 17 from Brett Kinneman.
This is a team that mashes, and Casey, Virginia’s starter, will need to have his best stuff to keep his UVa career and the Cavaliers’ season going.
N.C. State is starting righty Reid Johnston, who is a freshman right-hander. Again, this is a little bit of a break that lefty ace Brian Brown isn’t starting. Johnston is 7-0 with a 2.97 ERA, but it’s still a good matchup for a UVa team that has as many as seven left-handed hitters in its starting lineup.
“One of the great things about the tournament is you know who you’re going to play,” said N.C. State head coach Elliott Avant. “You can play matchups. But if we had to win the tournament to advance to postseason, then [pitching a left-hander] is something we would look at more so than we are now.”
Probable pitchers
Tuesday
» Virginia: LHP Daniel Lynch (4-4, 4.08 ERA, 81.2 IP, 20 BB, 98 SO)
» Florida State: RHP C.J. Van Eyk (6-0, 2.88 ERA, 50 IP, 24 BB, 61 SO) ORLHP Austin Pollock (4-4, 5.68 ERA, 57 IP, 28 BB, 49 SO)
Lynch had two weeks rest when he came and tossed 13 strikeouts in seven innings against Georgia Tech. He was throwing hard and was elite on the mound. UVa is hoping the extra rest — he’ll have eight days in between starts — helps him against the Seminoles. Van Eyk only has four starts in his career. He’s pitched well this season, but it wouldn’t seem likely he’d go many innings. Pollock hasn’t pitched great this season, with a lot of walks and not a lot of strikeouts. On paper, this is a good matchup for Virginia.
Thursday
» Virginia: RHP Derek Casey (6-4, 3.58 ERA, 88 IP, 24 BB, 97 SO)
» N.C. State: RHP Reid Johnston (7-0, 2.97 ERA, 57.2 IP, 10 BB, 45 SO)
Casey was roughed up in his last start against Wake Forest. It was on shorter rest, so maybe that was a factor. But he allowed nine hits and didn’t pitch six innings. Normally, he’s been UVa’s ace, and will need to return to that form if UVa is to win this potentially important game. Johnston is a freshman who, like Van Eyk, probably won’t last that long. He pitches to contact and has had success, but that might work in favor of a UVa team that doesn’t strike out much.
Stat to know
N.C. State and Florida State are second and third, respectively, in the ACC in total bases. The Wolfpack have 885, and the Seminoles have 823. Both are behind Georgia Tech, though N.C. State has the best slugging percentage in the league. Conversely, Virginia has just 676 total bases and the fourth-worst slugging percentage.
New and notes
» Evan Sperling likely will not pitch for Virginia in either of the first two games. He’s going to be saved in case the Cavaliers make the semifinals or finals.
» Noah Murdock would likely be the semifinals starter. Lynch could theoretically pitch the finals on four days rest, though it’s unclear if coach Brian O’Connor would decide to do that.
» Jack Weiller is not guaranteed a starting spot, despite his last four at-bats, which include three home runs, seven RBI and a double. He’ll be used depending on matchups, O’Connor said.
» Cayman Richardson, mired in a slump, did not start two of the final three games of the regular season. He was a mainstay in the No. 2 hole, but O’Connor is not committed to starting him going forward, he said. Though he didn’t rule out him starting, either.
» Justin Novak has quietly gotten his average up to .281 on the season — a steady climb as he continues to hit well. All but four of his hits this season have been singles, though.