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Howard leads Cavaliers against Tigers

Impressive sophomore class spearheads offensive production

An 18-inning performance at third base would be taxing enough for most players, but for sophomore Nick Howard, his job was not yet over. Less than 24 hours after Saturday’s double-header win, the sophomore took the mound as then-No. 8 Virginia’s starter in Sunday’s finale, firing 4.1 innings and batting seventh to lead a crucial sweep of NC State.

With three games packed into two days, it may have been easy for fans of the Virginia baseball team (22-2, 7-2 ACC) to miss some details of the weekend, but it was certainly impossible to overlook Howard. In fact, the sophomore’s presence has been ubiquitous all season for the Cavaliers, and he is the newest in a long line of two-way players to find his place in Charlottesville.

“I knew before the season that Nick Howard was going to be one of our really key players in this season,” coach Brian O’Connor said. “I think he’s got the ability to drive in some runs, I think he plays a good third base, and obviously showing what he does on the mound.”

Howard’s numbers this season speak for themselves. He has a .366 batting average with 16 RBIs in 19 games as a batter and is 3-1 with a 1.95 ERA in six games on the mound as the normal Sunday starter. Against the Wolfpack, he went 6-for-12 with 3 RBIs. The workload is certainly formidable, but Howard enjoys playing a major role on the team.

“You can’t take a pitch off, it keeps you in the game,” Howard said. “I think it’s a lot of fun to be in on every pitch.”

Howard’s success should not come as a surprise for followers of the Cavalier baseball team. O’Connor has demonstrated multiple success throughout his 10 years in Charlottesville in developing two-way players, coaching Virginia greats Joe Koshansky, Sean Doolittle and, most recently, Danny Hultzen. Howard is proud to take up the Cavalier tradition in 2013.

“I mean, they’ve put out a lot of good two-way players here,” Howard said. “I think that’s helped me, and they’ve kind of groomed me into the same kind of situation, so I definitely have a lot of confidence going out there knowing they have a lot of confidence in me. “

The job has made O’Connor and the coaching staff very mindful of Howard’s training, and he has a different routine than most of the hitters and pitchers. There are days in practice when Howard does not throw at all in order to protect his arm, and he has worked on his own ways to stay healthy, doing a lot of running on his off days. Perhaps most important to Howard’s durability is his athletic build at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds.

“One common theme that all those [two-way players] have is that they’re very athletic,” O’Connor said. “When you’re doing the volume of work that Howard does, you’re always concerned about him being able to stay strong … Nick’s a big, strong kid, and I think that he can handle it, but you have to be smart and you have to be conscious that it’s a long season.”

The coaches may be mindful about Howard down the road this season, but for Howard himself, the later season does not even cross his mind.

“I’m just worrying about day to day,” Howard said. “It’s a cliché, but it’s true.”

Luckily for the Cavaliers, Howard is not the only player on player on the team who has put up impressive numbers. He is one member of a stunning sophomore class that has provided the core of the Virginia production this year. Alongside outfielders Brandon Downes, Derek Fisher and Mike Papi, infielders Branden Cogswell and Kenny Towns, and catcher Nate Irving, the class of 2015 has combined for 12 of the team’s 14 home runs, 128 of the team’s 191 RBIs and a .328 batting average.

“When you think about the talent that’s in that sophomore class, it’s pretty remarkable,” O’Connor said. “They don’t look like young players anymore. They’re veterans, they’ve been in a lot of big ballgames in their time, and certainly they’re going to need to continue to do the job for us for the remainder of the season.”

Coming into the season, however, it was clear what this class was capable of — to the coaches at least, if not the press. Virginia was left unranked on most national polls coming into the season, but after tearing through their non-conference schedule and impressing against ranked NC State last weekend, the Cavaliers now sit as high as No. 5 in the latest rankings.

“We have a lot of guys that the media didn’t really know about,” Howard said. “We wanted to go out and prove — and we still are proving — to the media, and to ourselves, that we’re a great ball club, and we’re starting to realize our potential.”

Wednesday, the Cavaliers host Towson looking to stay perfect in non-conference games this season. The Tigers (13-9, 5-4 CAA) come into the game having found moderate success so far this season, but the program is currently in turmoil after a recent decision by the school to cut the program for the 2014 season. The players received national attention for blacking out “Towson” on their jerseys in protest of the decision. During the weekend, the Tigers dropped two of three games to CAA rival Old Dominion in Norfolk, but did manage a 9-1 win in the first game of Saturday’s double-header.

For Virginia the biggest challenge may be overlooking a lighter midweek opponent with a big three-game series against ACC foe Miami this weekend. Even with the success the Cavaliers have found for this season, they know that their work is not nearly done.

“I really believe that this team still has some steps forward that we have to take,” O’Connor said. “It’s hard to sit here and say that when you’re 22-2, but there is still more out there that we need to do better. Hopefully as we grow and move forward, we’ll be able to do those things.”

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