Baseball
What: Virginia at Pittsburgh
Where: Pittsburgh, Pa.
When: Saturday, 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.
The Skinny: The No. 21 Cavaliers await three afternoon games in two days at Charles L. Cost Field — the home of league opponent Pittsburgh (21-14, 8-9 ACC). Virginia (27-17, 11-10) enters the series with supreme confidence, having taken two of three at No. 1 Miami and avenged an early loss to Old Dominion in the past week.
In game one against the Hurricanes, junior ace Connor Jones picked up his eighth win of the season, compared to a single loss. The Chesapeake, Va. native worked seven strong, allowing eight hits and four runs — just one earned. On ample rest, Jones figures to set the tone in the opener against Pittsburgh.
A season ago, the then-sophomore surrendered only one run and four hits over seven innings, while striking out seven Panthers. Jones limited five of Pittsburgh’s top hitters in 2016 — including then-freshman shortstop Charles LeBlanc (.423) and the power duo of then-sophomore Nick Yarnell and then-junior Alex Kowalczyk (each with 8 hrs) — to a 2-17 total.
Despite his dominance on the mound, Jones had to rely on junior closer Josh Sborz — the man who’d later be named Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series and drafted No. 74 overall in the 2015 MLB Draft — to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory that day.
This year Virginia doesn’t have a shutdown guy out of the pen — unless coach Brian O’Connor’s recent conversion of sophomore Tommy Doyle to the closer role works wonders. For much of the season, the Cavaliers have experimented with different arms during the middle and late innings, and seen discouraging results.
On Tuesday afternoon, however, Virginia had to have gained confidence in its bullpen pieces, as junior righty Tyler Shambora and senior lefty Kevin Doherty combined for seven shutout innings in relief of sophomore starter Bennett Sousa against Old Dominion.
The zeros Shambora and Doherty put up every bottom frame provided Cavalier hitters with the momentum needed to complete a four-run comeback at the plate. They proceeded to scratch across eight unanswered runs en route to an 8-4 victory.
Junior catcher Matt Thaiss, sophomore center fielder Adam Haseley and sophomore first baseman Pavin Smith all produced in the batter’s box, each recording multi-hit games. Smith and Thaiss both homered, and tallied three and two-RBIs, respectively, while Haseley scored three runs. When that trio is clicking, even Panther junior ace T.J. Zeuch — who sports a 5-0 record and 2.63 ERA — has to feel a bit unnerved.
All of this goes without saying — Virginia is in a great place heading into its final road ACC series of 2016.
—compiled by Grant Gossage
Track & Field
What: The Highlander Invitational
Where: Radford, Va.
When: Friday and Saturday
The Skinny: Coming fresh off last week’s Virginia Challenge — one of the most competitive national meets of the season — some members of the Virginia outdoor track and field teams will be heading to Radford to participate in the Highlander Invitational.
Hosted by Radford University, this meet will feature several other teams from Virginia. The weather may play a role Saturday, as there is an 80 percent change for precipitation.
The Cavaliers will not be sending too many of its athletes to the invitational, so they can get rest before the ACC Championships, which will take place in two weeks in Tallahassee, Fla.
—compiled by Ben Tobin
Softball
What: Virginia (18-30, 7-10 ACC) vs. Virginia Tech (25-27, 10-11 ACC)
Where: Blacksburg, Va.
When: Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The Skinny: The Virginia softball team will travel to Blacksburg, Va. this weekend to finish out the 2016 season with a three-game series with in-state rival Virginia Tech.
The Cavaliers have been playing their best softball of the season as of late, going 10-8 over their last 18 games of the season. Virginia will be itching to get back to action after their midweek matchup against George Mason was canceled due to expected inclement weather. It will be a tough series for Virginia, as the Hokies — losers of three of their last four — finish their season on a high note.
Virginia has already improved on their 16-40 record from a year ago, and will be looking to finish off their season on a higher note than last year, when they went 1-7 in their last eight games.
—compiled by Rahul Shah
Rowing
What: Virginia vs. Texas
Where: Walter E. Long Lake; Austin, Texas
When: Saturday; all day
The Skinny: No. 4 Virginia heads to No. 8 Texas this weekend to take on the Longhorns on Walter E. Long Lake in Austin, Tx. The four-race regatta will be the Cavaliers’ second encounter with the Texas this spring season. They met earlier this month at the Clemson Invitational where both teams posted impressive numbers. The Cavaliers took home 12 race wins while the Longhorns rallied for 7, largely due to a 5-race sweep Sunday.
Their strong showings landed both teams in conference spotlight: Virginia’s First Varsity Four was named ACC Crew of the Week — the third time this year a Virginia team has won the honor — and Texas’s Varsity Eight was honored as Big 12 Boat of the Week.
The Cavalier and Longhorn crews look to this weekend to solidify their dominance on the waters before heading into post-season competition. Both the Big 12 Championships and ACC Championships follow this final regular-season meet.
Texas is one of the most formidable opponents Virginia has faced all season. The Longhorns’ impressive finishes landed them within seconds of Virginia in a number of their races in Clemson, threatening the Cavaliers in both time and authority on the waters.
The bar is set high for both teams heading into this regular-season finale.
—compiled by Emily Caron
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