What: Virginia vs. Longwood
Where: Davenport Field
When: Wednesday, 5 p.m.
The Skinny: Virginia baseball begins a six-game homestand Wednesday against Longwood (19-14, 7-5 Big South). A springtime return to Charlottesville comes at the right time for the Cavaliers (20-14, 7-8 ACC), who have lost five of their last six road contests and consequently fallen outside of the NCAA’s top-25 rankings.
Granted, Virginia isn’t returning to quite the same sanctuary that Davenport Field was prior to a turbulent stretch a year ago. After compiling 35-5 and 34-4 records at home in 2013 and 2014, respectively, the Cavaliers have since dropped 17 games on their diamond.
This season Virginia maintains a 14-7 record at Davenport — respectable but not intimidating. In seven of those 14 home victories, offensive outbursts of 10 or more runs took late-inning pressure off shaky Cavalier relievers. However, the season-ending toe injury to freshman outfielder Jake McCarthy and the slump that has seen sophomore first baseman Pavin Smith’s average plunge to .241 in ACC play have thinned this security blanket.
Seemingly the recipe to beat this Virginia team, whether home or away, is to give your guys a chance at that Cavalier bullpen in a tight contest, trailing two or three runs at most. Three perfect examples — Old Dominion plated five runs over the final two innings to complete a 5-4 comeback; Monmouth scratched across two in the 8th to hang on 6-4; East Carolina scored one in the 9th and three in the 10th to win, 8-5.
If the Lancers — who feature a handful of players whose ability coach Brian O’Connor overlooked in recruiting — want to avenge their 14-6 defeat in Charlottesville last season, they’ll have to knock Virginia’s freshman starter Daniel Lynch out early Wednesday. A week ago, Virginia Commonwealth forced O’Connor’s hand with one out in the fifth inning in a 2-1 ballgame. Lynch had thrown 96 pitches, allowing two earned runs on six hits and a walk.
Junior reliever Tyler Shambora inherited Ram baserunners on first and second, and the batter he faced smacked his first pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homer. VCU went on to beat the Cavaliers, 7-5 in Richmond.
As competitive as the Rams, Longwood split two March matchups with VCU, holding off a late rally to win 10-9 in Farmville before falling 5-2 at The Diamond. The Lancers have talent too. Their probable starter Wednesday, junior righthander Devin Gould, has impressed out of the pen this season. Rated the No. 4 prospect by Baseball America in the Valley Baseball League — a respected summer showcase program — Gould has yet to allow a run over 11.1 innings of work, while striking out 11.
Junior third baseman Alex Lewis provides plenty of pop in the middle of the Longwood lineup. The former Lake Braddock Bruin is hitting .366 and leads the team with four homers, 45 hits and 31 RBIs. Senior first baseman Connor Bastaich is another above-.300 threat at the plate and has tallied two dingers, 36 hits, 25 runs and 18 RBIs. Those two bats will have to be noisy if the Lancers hope to snap their eight-game losing streak against Virginia which dates back to 1984.
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