Virginia Baseball Update!

Sorry for the lack of posts on this 'til now.  I was off the grid at Smith Mountain Lake (no wi-fi, hell, not even any fi.)

In case you missed it, in the ACC postseason, we beat Clemson and then got shellacked by Georgia Tech in the round-robin.  GT then beat Clemson on Saturday morning, putting the Yellow Jackets at 3-0 and rendering our game against Florida State meaningless for purposes of trying to win the conference championship.  However, the game itself wasn't meaningless for the Hoos -- in fact, it was very far from meaningless.  A win probably secured the right to host a regional in the NCAA tournament, whereas a loss would have put us on the bubble for hosting.  So it was a big game for UVA.

The result?

Hoos 7, FSU 0.
(Box score)

Clutch cargo.

Artie Lewicki went 7 strong innings against FSU,
and is a key to our postseason hopes.

So we are hosting a regional, and have a great shot at a measure of revenge against Oklahoma, who knocked us out of the postseason in the 2010 Charlottesville Super Regional.

This weekend's schedule...

2012 NCAA Charlottesville Regional Schedule (all times Eastern)


Friday, June 1
Game 1 - No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Army, 4 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Appalachian State, 8 p.m.


Saturday, June 2
Game 3 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 4 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.


Sunday, June 3
Game 5 - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m.


Monday, June 4
Game 7 - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 6 p.m.

Jared King needs to deliver big this weekend.

And HERE is the NCAA tournament bracket. The winner of the Charlottesville Regional will advance to play the winner of the Columbia Regional. If South Carolina (National Seed #8) wins that regional, they would host us in the Super Regional. If they lose their regional to Clemson, Coastal Carolina, or Manhattan, then we would host the Super Regional.


But I'm getting ahead of myself just a bit. Up first is Army on Friday.


I think Mike will have a post for us soon, dissecting what he believes should be our pitching rotation for the regional. So stay tuned for that, and look forward to his excellent analysis.


One thing I will say at this point is this: 2012 is a rebuilding year for Virginia Baseball. To be sitting here at 38-17-1 is a true testament to our coaching staff and to the level of grit they have instilled in this program. This is a rebuilding year, and this is a flawed team. It lacks the quality pitching that you've come accustomed to seeing from UVA teams in the past. Therefore, you have to look at this postseason as a "playing with house money" type of situation.

GO HOOS!