On the heels of an impressive sweep of Wake Forest this past weekend, the No. 5 Virginia baseball team (30-3, 12-3 ACC) will host Radford (19-11, 7-2 Big South) Wednesday.
Radford is known for its solid defense, boasting a 97.8 percent fielding success rate on the year. The visitors are currently riding a seven-game win streak, while the Cavaliers have won five consecutive games. Virginia will strive to continue its streak with a consistent level of gameplay in the weeknight matchup.
“The thing I’ve been most impressed with this group has been our ability to bring our game of baseball and be ready to play each and every day that we’ve stepped on the field,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “In the first two ballgames [against Wake Forest], we had to battle back from behind on the road, which is not easy to do. There were a lot of two-out RBIs where players stepped up and picked up their teammates … and that’s what makes a good team.”
The Highlanders will hand the ball to freshman pitcher Dylan Nelson, who boasts a 3-2 record and 7.13 ERA, while the Cavaliers have yet to announce their starting pitcher. Whichever starter Virginia decides to throw at Radford will have to be wary of redshirt senior shortstop Jeff Kemp. Kemp has started all 30 of the Highlanders’ games and leads the team with a .660 slugging percentage, 26 RBIs, a .459 on-base percentage, 10 doubles and seven home runs. Of Cavaliers with at least 50 at bats this season, only sophomore left fielder Mike Papi has a higher slugging percentage at .725, while sophomore center fielder Brandon Downes leads Virginia with five home runs.
The Cavaliers will take the field more often than usual this week, as their schedule is packed with several games in a very short amount of time. After last weekend’s three-game series against Wake Forest, and the game on Wednesday, Virginia will then take on No. 17 Georgia Tech in another Friday-Sunday three-game match-up.
“This is an interesting week for us,” O’Connor said. “We have Radford on Wednesday, who is playing very good baseball as of late — they’ll be a challenge. Then we get right back on a plane on Thursday to head to Georgia Tech.”
Against the Demon Deacons, Virginia relied on stellar performances from several key players, including Papi and freshman right fielder Joe McCarthy. Throughout the entire weekend, McCarthy posted an impressive two homeruns and four RBIs while batting above .400. The Cavaliers will again look to McCarthy and others for offensive support in this midweek game.
“Joe McCarthy has been a consistent performer for us all year — probably our most consistent offensive player,” O’Connor said. “He’s just very very mature for a freshman, he’s got a really good presence in the batter’s box. He understands what he needs to do offensively to be successful, and it’s quite impressive. The home runs are great, but it’s the at bats that he has where he battles … [that] are the most impressive.”
Wednesday’s game is also an important confidence-builder for Virginia. The Cavaliers hope to use a victory against Radford to maintain their momentum entering the upcoming conference-series against the Yellow Jackets.
“We’re playing great baseball right now,” sophomore pitcher and third baseman Nick Howard said. “As long as we keep winning we are going to keep our confidence going into the rest of the season. We’re already looking forward to playing Radford and Georgia Tech later this weekend.”
Virginia has an extremely difficult schedule beyond this week’s games against the Highlanders and Yellow Jackets, with upcoming ACC-action featuring nationally-ranked opponents in No. 7 Florida State and No 1. North Carolina. But O’Connor remains optimistic for the rest of the season.
“We’re over halfway through the season, and certainly our team knows what they need to do day-in and day-out to have success,” O’Connor said. “We’ve won enough games now for them now to learn and understand what it takes to beat a good opponent — certainly we’ll have that this Wednesday against Radford.”
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