No. 15 Baseball Edges Virginia Tech to Sweep Three-Game Series
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/30/2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia wrapped up a three-game series sweep of Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over the Hokies in baseball action at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers continued their recent dominance over the Hokies with their 12th straight win in the series, including all 10 games since Virginia Tech entered the ACC in 2005. The win also was head coach Brian O'Connor’s 200th at Virginia as his teams improved to 11-0 against Virginia Tech.

Virginia (23-5, 8-4 ACC) again received a solid starting pitching performance, as Andrew Carraway (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) tossed 5.2 innings and surrendered one earned run, four hits and three walks while striking out seven as he received a no decision. In the series, the Cavaliers’ rotation of Jacob Thompson (Jr., Danville, Va.), Pat McAnaney (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) and Carraway combined to go 23.2 innings and allow four earned runs and 17 hits while striking out 25 (1.52 ERA).

Matt Packer (So., Germantown, Tenn.) pitched two scoreless innings of relief to move to 4-0 this season. Michael Schwimer (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) pitched the final 1.1 innings to nab his eighth save of the year.

Rhett Ballard (1-3) took the loss for the Hokies after allowing a run, three hits and two walks in 3.1 innings of relief. Andrew Wells started for Virginia Tech and went 4.2 innings and gave up a run, four hits and three walks while striking out two.

Virginia’s Jarrett Parker (Fr., Stafford, Va.) went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI in earning his first career three-hit game. His single in the sixth inning scored the eventual winning run, and he finished the series 5-for-8 with two doubles and three RBI.

Virginia Tech (8-18, 0-12) scored its lone run in the first inning on a Sean O’Brien double to plate Austin Wates.

Virginia knotted the score in the third inning as Jeremy Farrell (Jr., Westlake, Ohio) cranked a solo home run into the left-field bleachers with two out for his team-high fifth long ball and 30th RBI of the year.

The Cavaliers scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. After Dan Grovatt (Fr., Tabernacle, N.J.) and Patrick Wingfield (Sr., Winchester, Va.) hit consecutive singles to lead off the inning, they advanced on a Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) sacrifice bunt. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Parker ripped a single through the left side of the infield to score Grovatt and give Virginia a 2-1 advantage.

Virginia, now 9-1 on its 12-game homestand, finishes its home stretch with a two-game midweek series with Towson. The Cavaliers and Tigers play at 6 p.m. Tuesday and 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Virginia sweeps Virginia Tech
Offense supports strong outing from Carraway in third game; O'Connor coaches win 200
Ernie Washington, Cavalier Daily Gameday Editor

From the day Brian O'Connor accepted the Virginia head coaching position, two things he has constantly stressed have been excellent pitching and solid fundamentals. The team needed both of those factors to pull out a 2-1 victory against arch-rival Virginia Tech (8-18, 0-12 ACC) and sweep the weekend series.

"I think that no matter who it is in this league you've got to play really great baseball to win on the weekend, and it just happened to be against our rival, Virginia Tech," O'Connor said. "Today was a tough, hard-fought game and runs were tough to come by, but fortunately we pitched well and got some timely hits."

Junior pitcher Andrew Carraway pitched five and two-thirds innings yesterday, giving up four hits and one run while striking out seven. Though it was not a complete game like previous starters junior Jacob Thompson and senior Pat McAnaney accomplished Friday and Saturday, respectively, O'Connor was still pleased with Carraway's effort.

"Andrew did his job," O'Connor said. "He gave this team a chance to win and gave us a good quality start."

Even though Carraway gave up a run in the first inning off a double by Virginia Tech senior first baseman Sean O'Brien, Carraway was able to calm himself down for the rest of the game.

"It was a tough start, giving up a run early," Carraway said. "You never want that but you know that if you give up a run, it doesn't mean a thing in the first inning because you know that game is not going to end 1-0. Your offense is going to score runs for you."

The runs were hard to come by, but they came courtesy of junior first baseman Jeremy Farrell's home run in the third inning and freshman outfielder Jarrett Parker's RBI single in the sixth inning. That run would not have happened were it not for sophomore catcher Franco Valdes' execution of a sacrifice bunt that allowed runners to advance to second and third base.

"Today runs were tough to come by," O'Connor said. "The wind was blowing in, and I thought we hit some balls on the screws against their starter, and it just couldn't drop in. Franco did a nice job of getting that bunt down."

O'Connor said the staff stresses the importance of execution because in close games a fundamental play -- like Franco's sacrifice -- can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Yesterday's victory was the 200th for Brian O'Connor as head coach at Virginia. He gave credit for that milestone to others involved in the program.

"The 200 wins that I've been fortunate to get here at the University of Virginia is all because of the players," O'Connor said. "I've really got to give all of the credit to them and our assistant coaches: coach [Kevin] McMullan and coach [Karl] Kuhn have been right by my side, and those guys really deserve all the credit because they do a lot of the work."

Virginia is now 23-5 on the season with an 8-4 ACC record, and O'Connor believes his team is in good shape.

"I couldn't be happier to be 23-5 and in a good position in this league," O'Connor said. "I feel really good. I've told a lot of people that I didn't know how good this team would be until around game 35 or 40, and I think we're starting to see a little bit what we are capable of doing."

Even though this weekend's play was a nice bounceback from the lopsided defeat against George Washington this past Wednesday, this coming week is huge for the Cavaliers.

"We've got two games in the middle of the week against Towson, and we just need to come out and play hard and play with energy and treat every game the same," O'Connor said. "If we take care of business in the middle of this week we'll feel really good about going down to Tallahassee [to play Florida State]."


 

Ex-U.Va. star's HR lifts Nats
Washington's new ballpark opens with victory on shot in the ninth by Zimmerman
Monday, Mar 31, 2008 - 12:07 AM

NATIONALS 3 BRAVES 2

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Nationals Park had quite an opening.

Former University of Virginia star Ryan Zimmerman hit a tiebreaking homer off Peter Moylan with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 last night in the first regular-season game at the $611 million stadium.

With the dome of the U.S. Capitol lit up against the black night sky beyond left field, and the Washington Monument visible from patches of the upper deck, Zimmerman raised his right fist as he rounded first base.

Teammates spilled out of the dugout -- it's along the first-base line now, not the third-base line, like at old RFK Stadium -- and greeted the face of the franchise at home plate for celebratory pounds on the back.

Nick Johnson delivered an RBI double in his first at-bat in more than 18 months, Odalis Perez matched Tim Hudson, and Jon Rauch (1-0) earned the victory after blowing a save in the top of the ninth.

All in all, it sent the paid crowd of 39,389 heading away with even more to smile about than the gleaming white-stone-and-glass ballpark.

With President Bush on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, the Nationals had their first victory in a season opener in four tries since moving to the nation's capital from Montreal.

 

Lalich hopes to put time to good use
Not ready for USC, likely quarterback for U.Va. figures
Monday, Mar 31, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Peter Lalich will face USC at Scott Stadium Aug. 30.

CHARLOTTESVILLE The season-opener is five months away, and that's probably a good thing for the University of Virginia football team.

"I don't think I'm ready for USC right now," quarterback Peter Lalich said after the first of the Cavaliers' two open practices this spring.

Lalich, a rising sophomore from Northern Virginia, didn't take all the snaps with the first-team offense yesterday afternoon. But he backed up starter Jameel Sewell last season, and with Sewell on academic suspension, Lalich is expected to be the starter Aug. 30 when Southern California visits Scott Stadium.

Sewell and Lalich remain close. They hung together Saturday night, in fact.

"He's just telling me what I need to do: Make sure I keep my head on straight and make sure I keep working hard," said Lalich, a 6-5, 225-pound right-hander.

As a true freshman in 2007, Lalich appeared in eight games, completing 35 of 61 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. His playing time decreased as the season progressed, but the experience Lalich gained, U.Va. coach Al Groh believes, puts him well ahead of where he'd be had he redshirted.

Lalich said: "I definitely think that it helped."

Sewell's departure left U.Va. with three scholarship quarterbacks on the spring roster: Lalich, Scott Deke and Marc Verica. Deke will be a fifth-year senior in the fall; Verica, a redshirt sophomore.

"If not with each one, then as a group there's been progress every day," Groh said.

Lalich said he's been concentrating on "making the best decision. Hitting the guy that's most wide open, not [attempting] the most interesting throw or the harder throw."

Among ACC teams, U.Va. ranked 10th in passing offense last season. Sewell's inability to consistently complete longer passes hurt the Cavaliers, and Lalich may be an upgrade in that area. Also, the return of Kevin Ogletree, an all-ACC candidate who missed last season with a knee injury, should bolster a receiving corps that didn't scare opposing defenses.

"I feel comfortable with Pete, just knowing he can get me the ball wherever I'm at," said Ogletree, who was Sewell's favorite target in 2006. "He's accurate, and that's reassuring. That's what we like to see out of quarterbacks. You know they're going to put the ball where you need it to be."

Tailback Mikell Simpson led the Cavaliers with 43 receptions last season.

"We all have confidence in Pete," Simpson said. "When he was in there early in the year he proved he could play at this level. At the end he really wasn't getting in, so he probably lost confidence, and he really didn't take his job seriously. But now that he knows he has to be the man and carry us as far as we can go, I feel he's going to take it seriously."

. . .

NOTE: Sherando High quarterback Ross Metheny yesterday became the fourth 11th-grader from the state to commit to U.Va. for 2009. The 6-3, 190-pound Metheny, who also had a scholarship offer from Connecticut, attended yesterday's practice at U.Va. He committed to Groh before heading home.

Metheny, who took unofficial visits to Georgia, UConn and Boston College last week, passed for 24 touchdowns and more than 2,200 yards last season.

 

UVA Lands Top In-State Recruit
By the SouthernPigskin.com Staff
One of the south's premier quarterback prospects for 2009 has verbally committed to Al Groh and Virginia. SouthernPigskin.com releases his decision with exclusive quotes and insight.

“It just felt right, it’s where I want to be. Deep down I knew that is where I wanted to go” said ESPN 150 quarterback and Sherando High School’s Ross Metheny. The talented signal caller gave his verbal commitment today to the University of Virginia, thus closing down his recruitment. Metheny’s recruiting was quickly growing into a national affair. He selected the Cavaliers over Connecticut, Georgia, Florida State and Arkansas.

Metheny, who visited Charlottesville this weekend to take in spring practice, gave Coach Al Groh the answer he was looking for:

“Coach Groh and I talked about my role with the program. He said my skill set is perfect with the offensive schemes they run and I will be able to compete for the starting job when I get there.” Metheny explained. “After thinking about getting a degree from the University of Virginia, a top academic institution, and playing in the ACC for Coach Groh I just felt UVA was right for me. It’s a great football program and school. I’m really pumped up.”

Metheny went on talk about the Cavaliers’ offensive schemes and quarterbacks Coach Mike Groh.

“When I was talking to Coach Mike it really opened my eyes to the style of offense they run at UVA. I’ve always followed them and the chance to play for Coach Mike really weighed heavy on me. He’s the kind of coach that anybody would want to play for. He and I really hit it off and I’m really excited about playing for him and the University of Virginia.” Metheny said on his way home to Winchester, Virginia.

Metheny is set at UVA and has closed down his recruitment. He will not visit any other schools and will help recruit some future prospects to Charlottesville, including fellow Virginian and Liberty High School’s Corey Lillard (Ath, 5’11”, 195 4.5). “Corey and I are buddies and I’m going to go to work on him and some other elite players I’m friends with.” Metheny said. Lillard has offers from Virginia, North Carolina, NC State and Duke.

An ESPN Top 150 recruit, Scouts, Inc. provided this evaluation of Metheny:

There is a lot to like about Metheny and although he is not physically developed yet, his overall demeanor, fundamentals and production is very good. He is polished in terms of mechanics, set up and balance when delivering the ball. He's left-handed with adequate-to-good arm strength, but would be termed a "touch" passer that is at his best in the short-to-intermediate ranges and throwing the fade route inside the red zone. Timing is his best trait right now. He gets back, gets set and lets it go and is very confident in his progressions and decision making. Excellent ball handler that pays attention to the little things on play-action, footwork and mechanics of not only throwing within the pocket, but on the move as well. Knows how to throw to a spot, anticipates routes and rarely holds onto the ball unnecessarily. He is a deceptive athlete with good feet, will buy second passing chances and does a nice job keeping his eyes downfield. Is somewhat of a running threat, but not a scrambler or guy who will create. Metheny's physical tools are not going to overwhelm you, but you respect his productivity and in the right scheme, he would be very serviceable and competitive and he knows how to be on time which at the high school level is not often the case with most QB's.

Metheny becomes fourth verbal commitment for the University of Virginia. Metheny joins Harrisonburg (VA) High School’s Alex Owah (RB, 5’9, 180, 4.4), Dominique Wallace (RB, 6’1”, 238, 4.6) from Chancellor High in Fredericksburg VA and Caleb Porzel (RB, 5’8”, 180, 4.5) of Our Lady Good Counsel HS in Wheaton, MD.
 

Deep threat back for U.Va.
Kevin Ogletree's return gives the Cavaliers a crucial piece they missed in 2007.
By MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
March 31, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE - This time last year, Kevin Ogletree had a lot to look forward to.

Coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he led Virginia with 52 catches for 582 yards and four touchdowns, Ogletree was primed for spring workouts. But everything skidded to a halt late last March.

"I just tried to make a hard cut going in one direction, and my knee kind of did something funny," Ogletree said.

As doctors tried to determine the extent of his injury, Ogletree, a 6-foot-2, 189-pound wide receiver, told himself he'd play in 2007, even practicing for two more days before an MRI revealed he'd torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

"I was optimistic through the whole process, just thinking like, 'Oh, this is all right. I'll be OK,' " Ogletree said. "And the MRI came back and it didn't show that, so from then on, I've been pressing harder, trying to get back. That was my whole motto, just trying to get back, trying to get back, trying to get back."

After ACL surgery and a medical redshirt year of rehabilitation, Ogletree has finally achieved that goal. He's back in pads and his No. 20 jersey, a full participant in Virginia's spring practice, which began March 21.

"K.O. brings energy, and he's that playmaker at the receiver spot that we were missing last year," said running back Mikell Simpson, who, in Ogletree's absence, led Virginia with 43 catches for 402 yards.

A pair of tight ends, Jonathan Stupar and Tom Santi, were Nos. 2 and 3 on the reception list, combining for 76 catches. Maurice Covington was Virginia's leading true wide receiver, with 21 catches for 269 yards in nine games.

"We didn't have that deep-ball threat," Simpson said. "Everybody (saw) that. That's why they stacked eight and nine guys in the box. ... Now that (Ogletree) is back in the lineup, they're gonna have to respect that."

Beginning the day after his surgery, Ogletree was doing range-of-motion exercises, and he attacked the rest of his rehab with a determination that Cavs coach Al Groh said inspired his teammates.

"There was like a week, the first week, where I was like, 'Man, this is bad,' " Ogletree said. "... But once I came down to reality and said this is it, this is what happened, I turned it on. I just said I've got to look at this as a positive. I've got to get something out of this."

While he got stronger physically, Ogletree also honed his mental focus. He said being forced to watch the game made him understand it better.

"I know that had to be depressing, coming off the year he had, and (with) his expectations for last season," Simpson said. "He didn't cry. You didn't hear any moaning about nothing. He just got in rehab and worked hard."

That work will pay off on Aug. 30, when Virginia opens the 2008 season at home against Southern California with Ogletree back in the starting lineup.

"It's definitely a blessing in disguise," Ogletree said. "That's probably the best way to put it, because it helped me realize how much football means to me and how much of an opportunity I have out here. ... I really feel like I'm different from what I was before, just as far as knowing what I want to do, knowing how hard I want to work, knowing what I want to get accomplished."

The Ogletree file
KEVIN OGLETREE

Year: Junior.

Position: Wide receiver.

Height, weight:

6-2, 189 pounds

Notable: Missed all of last season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in spring practice. ... Led Virginia with 52 catches for 582 yards and four TDs as a sophomore in 2006, becoming the ninth player in U.Va. history to have 50 catches in a season.
 

Tennis keeps streak going against Miami, FSU
Cavaliers lose only one of 14 matches; Huey's comeback treats team to perfect 7-0 Miami win
Emily Hebeler, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Virginia men's tennis team maintained its flawless record this weekend as it rolled over ACC foes Miami and Florida State. The Cavaliers defeated Miami 7-0 Friday and Florida State 6-1 Sunday, which continued the team's trend of allowing no ACC opponents to score more than 1 point.

No. 1 Virginia (21-0, 7-0 ACC) saw marked improvement in its doubles play in both matches. The Cavaliers have dropped the doubles point four times this season and have struggled to sweep all three doubles matches. After practicing doubles every day last week, the Cavaliers saw their hard work pay off as they swept all six doubles matches. The doubles lineup involved new pairings at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. At No. 2, junior Dominic Inglot paired up with freshman Michael Shabaz for the first time and won both matches 8-1.

"There's a lot of confidence between both of us," Shabaz said. "We both serve big so it puts a lot of pressure on our opponents and if we make a few returns and get a break, it's pretty tough to beat us."

At No. 3 doubles, senior Ted Angelinos and sophomore Lee Singer won 8-4 against Miami, and freshman Sanam Singh and sophomore Houston Barrick defeated Florida State 7-6.

The most anticipated match of the weekend was between No. 1 senior Somdev Devvarman of Virginia and No. 4 junior Daniel Vallverdu of Miami, likely the highest ranked player Devvarman will face in ACC play. Devvarman did not leave any room for questions, however, as he cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

No. 28 senior Treat Huey fell behind 4-1 in the first set against Miami junior David Rosenfeld. Huey then rallied to win nine straight games and finish the match 6-4, 6-1.

"The guy was hitting some great backhands, and I knew I just had to keep playing my game," Huey said. "I've been playing real well all week in practice. I just told myself, 'He's going to cool off. There's no way he can keep doing that.'"

One question for Virginia has been the recovery of No. 5 Inglot, after he suffered an injury and sat out earlier in the season. Although Inglot proved his doubles abilities, he struggled in singles, winning 7-5, 7-6 against Vivek Subramanian of Miami and losing 7-6, 6-4 to senior Sam Chang of Florida State.

"Dom's up and down," Boland said. "He was right there, and it just kind of got away, but his doubles was strong. He's getting healthier so he's been getting the repetitions each week in practice."

The Cavaliers have displayed continued improvements, particularly in the bottom of the lineup. After losing several matches earlier in the season, Shabaz is on a 7-0 winning streak and beat both opponents in straight sets. Similarly, Barrick dropped two matches in the National Team Indoors tournament but has now won eight in row. Singh and Angelinos remain undefeated in duals play, and Singh recently moved into the national rankings at No. 97.

"Our two freshmen, Singh and Shabaz, are striking the ball well," Boland said. "Particularly over the last month, they just keep getting better and better with each practice. [This weekend's matches are] probably as well as Michael's played so far."

The win against Florida State gave Virginia its seventh victory against a top-10 opponent this season, and both wins extend Virginia's home winning streak record to 23 matches, dating back to a loss to Miami in 2006.

 

Credit where credit is due
Eric Strow

It took the length of the regular season, but after amassing a 22-8 record including 10 wins in conference play, the Virginia women's basketball team cracked the AP Top 25 as it headed to the ACC Tournament in early March as the No. 4 seed. The Cavaliers fell to eventual conference champion North Carolina in the semifinals but were put officially "on the radar" of college basketball fans and coaches nationwide. Coach Debbie Ryan's squad earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the Greensboro Region and last weekend carried the momentum of their season to Norfolk, Va. to face the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Virginia handled the Gauchos with ease in the first round, winning 86-52 and advancing to play Old Dominion in the Round of 32. The Cavaliers lost a thriller in overtime, falling 88-85 in what was the most exciting basketball game I've seen this season, men's or women's. And yes, I watch a lot of college basketball. This game was full of scoring runs and comebacks, such as in the first half, when the Cavaliers were down as many as 12 points on a few separate occasions but fought back to cut the deficit to 3 at halftime. Virginia trailed the majority of the game but forced overtime after junior center Aisha Mohammed converted the foul shot on a 3-point play with less than two seconds left on the clock after a heart-stopping series of shot attempts and rebounds in the last 13 seconds. Overtime didn't go the way the Cavaliers wanted, but they still played a great game and fought hard till the end, battling against a solid basketball team as well as an unusual tournament advantage.

You might recall in my last column I wrote about how North Carolina's men's team was able to play its way to the Final Four without leaving the state of North Carolina. If you thought this was ridiculous too, you might find what happened in the women's tournament to be questionable as well. Old Dominion, the No. 5 seed in the Greensboro Region, played the first two rounds of the tournament on its home court, like many other teams in the women's tournament. To draw interest and fill the seats of early round games in the women's tournament, the NCAA selection committee places teams that qualify for the tournament (and whose arenas were pre-selected to host games) to play on their home court.

So, when the Cavaliers played the Lady Monarchs in the second round, they were playing in front of a raucous ODU home crowd that filled most of the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk. I don't want to take anything away from the ODU players – they played a great game, and the 3-pointer junior guard Jazzmin Walters made with less than five seconds left was an incredible shot – but I do think the game was made that much more difficult for the Cavaliers by having to play a road game in what was probably the loudest ODU's arena has been for a women's game in quite some time.

Nevertheless, the game captured many of the story lines that followed Virginia throughout the season. Junior forward Lyndra Littles posted a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds, and Mohammed did the same with 17 points and 15 boards. For Littles, it was her fifth consecutive double-double; for Mohammed, it was her 14th of the season. Senior point guard Sharneé Zoll, a co-captain and unquestioned leader of the team, scored 13 points and added 9 assists, finishing off a season in which she set the ACC record for career assists.

Sophomore guard Monica Wright, the ACC's leading scorer through the conference tournament, was held to only 11 points against Old Dominion but will surely be a key player for Virginia again next year. The Cavaliers will return 10 of the 12 players currently on the roster, and although the departures of Zoll and fifth-year senior co-captain Tara McKnight will sting, Ryan's team will be back to the tournament again next year.

The Virginia women's basketball team deserves a ton of credit for the season it put together this year. Here's a tip well in advance of next season: If you weren't watching these Cavaliers this year, you definitely need to do so come November.