Baseball Features 
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The Hurricane's blow out of Charlottesville taking the series and Virginia's win-streak with them. In a game that featured four lead changes in only eight innings play (because of ACC travel restrictions), Miami landed on top, stealing the rubber match 7-5. But if they couldn’t pull out the win, Virginia Coach Brian O’Connor will take some solace in the fact that his team provided a gritty, hard-fought battle.
The UVa baseball team has roared off the starting block in the early going thanks to contributions from freshman Steven Proscia. The Sabre caught up with Proscia to discuss everything from offseason training to the tradition of Virginia. The Cavaliers host Miami for a three-game series this weekend.
Former Virginia baseball standout Brandon Guyer finished his Cavalier career with 221 hits, 146 runs, 137 RBIs, 19 home runs, and 45 steals. He hit .370 in his final season when UVa compiled a 45-16 record in 2007. Now with the Peoria Chiefs, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs managed by Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, Guyer is trying to climb the ladder of professional baseball. He joined The Sabre for a "Quick Take" on how things are going since he left Virginia.
In our preseason look at Virginia baseball, one of the questions facing the Hoos in 2008 was "Which freshmen will be relied upon to contribute?" The ultimate answer proved to be "all of them." After some regular season struggles, it appears the rookies have arrived. The five freshmen hit a combined .392 (20 of 51) in the ACC Tournament and accounted for 48% of Virginia's runs and 65% of its RBI.
During the first four seasons of Brian O'Connor's tenure, the Cavaliers have entered the ACC Tournament seeded below third only once. The lone exception to high seeding status up until now was 2006 when Virginia finished the ACC season at 14-14, which was good enough for the seventh seed in the league tourney. The Cavaliers started 3-0 that year and made it to Championship Sunday. The sixth-seeded Cavs (36-19, 15-15 ACC) are hoping the same karma that surrounded that 2006 team will find them in 2008.
Over the past four years the Virginia baseball team has consistently ended the regular season on a positive note, averaging 7.75 wins in its final 10 regular season outings. But that is not the case this season as the Hoos complete the 2008 regular season with a crucial three-game series against Georgia Tech starting tonight at 6 p.m. at Davenport Field. The Jackets arrive as winners of 9 of their last 12 games while Virginia staggers into its ACC season finale as losers in 6 of 10. But are the Hoos, winners of 35 games so far, in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament?
One of Miles Davis' most unique compositions was released in 1974. It was entitled Big Fun. Neal Davis, who pitching coach Karl Kuhn nicknamed "Miles" has been having "Big Fun" this season and, along with fellow sophomore Matt Packer, has emerged as a middle relief ace for the Hoos.
2008 has been a good year for Virginia left-hander Pat McAnaney. He leads the conference in innings pitched, strikeouts and complete games in ACC play. Among starters, he has the lowest ERA in the conference (2.48) and has allowed the lowest batting average (.191) in the league. That's all good. A not-so-good 2007 may have been what triggered McAnaney's surge as a senior.
Six times last season Andrew Carraway came into a game in relief of starter Matt Packer. On March 16, 2008 against Duke, those roles reversed as Matt Packer entered the game in the sixth inning to relieve Carraway in Virginia's 4-1 loss in Durham. This past weekend, Packer again picked up his teammate, this time with a different outcome as the Hoos outlasted Boston College 8-6.
The Cavalier baseball season has begun but what did we learn from the four-game sweep of Lehigh, a victory over CAA preseason favorite ODU, and a four-touchdown laugher over Coppin State? Not much that we didn't know before the weekend started. Look for Coach Brian O'Connor to continue to mix things up this weekend with four more games in the University of Virginia Invitational.
After starting 2-0 in the 2007 NCAA Regional, the Virginia baseball team couldn't close the deal as Oregon State won three straight games, including Tuesday's elimination game, to advance. For the Hoos, they conclude their season for the fourth time in the last four years with a regional loss - three times on their home turf. The loss ends the seniors' UVa careers.
The next 15 hours will leave many Virginia baseball fans to wonder at what point did it all go south? Was it Patrick Wingfield's double error in the sixth? When Virginia stranded runners on the corners in the same inning? Some other pivotal moment? Whenever it was, the Hoos let a prime opportunity slip away when they were just six outs from advancing. Now, they have to face Oregon State one last time in a "winner take all" scenario on Tuesday.
When Brian O'Connor emphasized "now we have all hands on deck" after Saturday night's 7-4 win over Oregon State, he truly meant it. Thanks to Sunday's rain in the Charlottesville area, the Cavalier coach actually might have a few more options with UVa's next game scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday against the OSU and Rutgers winner. The elimination game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
ESPN 840's Wes McElroy said it best - the baseball gods were not smiling on Virginia Saturday night. But after going through what must seemed the trials of Job, the gods blessed the hosts with a win and their first 2-0 start in an NCAA Regional under Brian O'Connor. But it required much sacrifice as the Cavaliers lost two of its pivotal players. Fortunately for the Hoos, players like John Scaglione and Mike Mitchell stepped up and delivered.
There were more than a few frazzled heads in the crowd when Casey Lambert emerged from the Virginia bullpen with one out in the seventh inning of a 3-3 tie against Oregon State on Saturday night. But UVa coach Brian O'Connor knew what he wanted to do if the Hoos ended up in that type of situation before the first pitch was ever thrown.
At 5:51 p.m. on Friday, Sean Doolittle (8-3) left the pitching rubber at Davenport Field for, in all likelihood, the last time to a long standing ovation. At 6:13 p.m., he left the field with the career record in wins (22) by a Virginia pitcher as the Cavaliers took the opening game of the Charlottesville Regional, 5-1, over the Lafayette Leopards. After the game, coach Brian O'Connor gave Doolittle a verbal ovation of his own.
Brandon Marsh led the Cavaliers with four hits in Friday's 5-1 win over Lafayette. It was his third four-hit game this season (the other two came vs. VT on March 31 and Maryland on April 27). Marsh helped spark the Cavaliers' offense in the first inning when they took the lead and never looked back. first hit and first run when he scored on Brandon Guyer's first inning home run to left center field. The right fielder then added singles in the second, fourth, and seventh innings. Plus, he picked up a stolen base.
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