The Virginia baseball team travels to Chestnut Hill, Mass. this Friday to take on Boston College in the attempt to get back to a winning record in conference play.
The Cavaliers (19-12, 6-6 ACC) will hope to capitalize on the momentum created from a 15-3 beating of George Washington Wednesday, a win that stopped a two-game skid. The victory could mark the beginning of a turnaround, after a stretch of play saw the Cavaliers lose six out of their last seven games and fall out of Baseball America’s Top 25 for the first time all season.
Sophomore infielder Ernie Clement stressed the importance of the Cavaliers’ performance Wednesday.
“I think this was huge, to kind of rebound after that,” Clement said. “Heading into a weekend against Boston College, you definitely want to go in with a win under your belt, and it was really important for us."
As to what brought about the change that seemed evident in the score line Wednesday evening, coach Brian O’Connor seemed to have an idea.
“I told them that we needed to start throwing punches first,” O’Connor said. “I thought we set the tone in the first inning, and that was good to see.”
After having been down with some frequency of late, Virginia took O’Connor’s words to heart and jumped out ahead in the first inning, beginning with sophomore Adam Haseley’s first-pitch homerun and never looked back. It’s a strategy they’ll look to repeat Friday against Boston College.
Standing in Virginia’s way of stringing together consecutive wins will be an Eagles team (14-10, 3-7 ACC) that hasn’t played in a week, due to weather related cancellations and postponements.
Boston College is led by senior captain and shortstop Joe Cronin — no relation to former Red Sox Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin. Cronin is probably the most dangerous hitter Virginia’s pitching staff will face, as the well-rounded hitter sports a robust .356 batting average, in addition to leading Boston College in extra base hits, homeruns, RBIs and walks.
On the mound, Virginia will likely face Boston College’s go-to Friday night starter, junior Mike King, whose 2.99 career ERA ranks second in Boston College history. The 6’3”, 200-pound right hander has been one of the bright spots for Boston College so far this season, sporting a 2.70 ERA.
King, who’s 4-2 on the year, will have to go up against Virginia right-hander, junior Connor Jones. Jones, who has a 2.66 ERA to go along with 41 strikeouts, presents a challenge for Boston College, as he’s 5-1 on the season. Virginia will look to keep up their solid performance behind their ace Friday, in addition to building on the momentum from their victory over George Washington.
O’Connor seems to think that the Cavaliers can ensure this momentum will translate over into the weekend slate.
"When things aren't going your way, like maybe they haven't been the last couple weeks … it's tough, and you get disappointed and you get down on yourself and sometimes you question yourself,” O’Connor said. “But [Wednesday’s victory] hopefully gives them a positive feeling going into an important conference weekend on the road."
The Cavaliers will get their chance to extend those positive feelings Friday, as the first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
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