There is no place like home for the Virginia baseball team. The Cavaliers (17-6) have an exceptional 15-1 record within the confines of Davenport Field but have a more pedestrian 5-3 record away from Charlottesville. It is common for baseball teams to have a better home-winning percentage than away-winning percentage, yet it seems with the Cavaliers there are perceptible reasons for the disparity.
Baseball is unique in that it is the only sport in which the playing fields vary in size. The distance to the fences of Davenport Field are large, even by professional standards. The park has symmetrical dimensions, with the foul poles standing 352 feet from home plate, the power alleys positioned 377 feet from the plate and the "Blue Monster" in dead center-field looming 408 feet away.
In comparison, Boston's Fenway Park is 315 feet down the left-field line and 302 feet to the "Pesky Pole" in right-field. Even Atlanta's Turner Field, known as a pitcher's park, is only 335 to left-field and 330 to right.
To win consistently in a park with such sizeable dimensions, a team has to rely on a pitching and defense-oriented style of baseball. Virginia coach Brian O'Connor's squad is built around this "small-ball" philosophy.
"We do the little things, like get the bunt down, and that's why we have the home-field advantage," freshman left-fielder Brandon Guyer said.
Relying on this approach, however, can be problematic when a team goes on the road and plays in a park more conducive to explosive offense. The Cavaliers experienced this when they traveled to Wake Forest's Gene Hooks Stadium March 4.
The Cavaliers were swept by a middling Demon Deacons squad whose current record is a mediocre 10-12. Gene Hooks Stadium is a bandbox compared to Davenport Field, with shorter dimensions to all parts of the field, including a measly 315 feet to the right-field corner. Virginia lost the three games by scores of 11-8, 15-8, and 7-6.
A cursory glance at the statistics shows that while the Cavaliers' offense seems able to adjust to smaller dimensions, it is Virginia's pitching that suffers on the road. The Cavaliers have not given up more than five runs in a game at home. Yet, in Virginia's five losses on the road -- at UNC-Wilmington, Old Dominion, and Wake Forest -- Cavalier pitchers have given up five, nine, eleven, fifteen and seven runs respectively.
Virginia's pitching, ranked third in the ACC in earned run average, is the main pillar of the team's success. The statistics, however, suggest Virginia's pitching, while superb at home, is merely average on the road. To look at this trend closer, one can highlight senior right-hander Jeff Kamrath's season thus far.
Kamrath is one of Virginia's weekend aces, usually pitching the crucial Sunday finale of a series.
"He's really being a leader out there and pitching some great baseball," O'Connor said.
Kamrath (3-2) has started six games -- four at home and two on the road. At home, Kamrath has given up only four earned runs over 29 innings. On the road, however, Kamrath has surrendered 10 earned runs over only eight and two-thirds innings pitched.
With numerous road games on the horizon, beginning at Virginia Tech this weekend, it is clear that Virginia's pitching rotation, while experiencing much success this season, must improve its performance away from the spacious comforts of Davenport Field.
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