Patterson drops UVa from his list
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 9, 2007

Apparently the Virginia men’s basketball team will not be getting the big man that it desperately needs.

On Tuesday, media outlets in Kentucky and West Virginia reported that Patrick Patterson - one of the most highly rated high school players in the country - has crossed UVa and Wake Forest off his list of possible colleges.

The outlets said the 6-foot-8, 235-pound Huntington (W.V.) High product has whittled his list to three schools - Florida, Kentucky and Duke. Patterson, according to the reports, announced the decision at a high school banquet on Monday night.

A source close to the Virginia program told The Daily Progress that Patterson, as of late Tuesday afternoon, had yet to notify the Cavaliers’ coaching staff that they were out of the running.

Virginia has already locked up guards Sam Zeglinski, Jeff Jones and Mustapha Farrakhan plus forward Mike Scott, for its 2007 recruiting class. The final day of the spring signing period is May 16.

The addition of Patterson would have turned a good class into a great one. However, Virginia was always viewed as a dark-horse candidate because of stiff competition that included two-time NCAA Champion Florida.

 

UVa works to ensure seating is plentiful
Cavs hope for attendance record
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 9, 2007

Cringing as if his team had blown a 10-run lead, Brian O’Connor listened to news he did not want to hear.
The coach learned that scores of fans longing to see Virginia’s baseball team were turned away at the door to Davenport Field.
That was the story following the Cavaliers’ series finale with Maryland some 10 days ago.
If Virginia’s coach, whose team sports a 38-10 record overall, hears that again this weekend while hosting North Carolina State, expect a role reversal.
Why the sudden change in philosophy? The answer lies in the massive section of bleachers currently sitting behind the left-field wall and the prospects of setting a new attendance record.
Some 600 additional seats were added earlier this week, bringing the new capacity to 3,212 - reaching that would break the previous best mark of 3,200 set during the Charlottesville Regional last year.
“I think it shows the commitment that our administration is showing to our baseball program in response to the fan involvement and the fan turnout during the past few weeks,” O’Connor said. “I think it adds a lot to the environment and I think it is a great seat. I also think it really encloses the ballpark.”
O’Connor also knows the benefit the additional seats could have on a pending bid to host playoff games in the NCAA Tournament.
“I am not trying to get too far down the road,” O’Connor said, “but it can certainly impact your bid for an NCAA Regional.”
Having experienced the horror stories from fans denied admission, O’Connor and athletic department officials are asking that those interested in attending purchase tickets in advance through the Virginia Athletic Ticket Office at 982-8821 or (800) 542-8821.
“I would hate for somebody to miss out,” O’Connor said. “I think it is important that they buy them early so we don’t run into another situation like we encountered during the Maryland series.”
Nothing to howl about Plain and simple, Virginia has struggled of late against N.C. State.
The Wolfpack won all four meetings last year and six of the last seven in the series.
“The reality of it is that they have had our number since our coaching staff has been here for some reason,” O’Connor said.
UVa had a chance to win the middle game of the series in Raleigh, N.C., last season before closer Casey Lambert was roughed up - the lefty gave up six earned runs in 2.2 innings of relief and a walk-off double to Matt Camp.
“We didn’t play well at times that weekend, but we had a chance to win on Saturday night and we didn’t do the job at the end of the game,” O’Connor recounted. “Hopefully, this weekend when we have a chance to do the job at the end of the game, we will.
“It will be a great challenge. Coming out of 10-day break for final exams is not the best situation, but it is what it is. Other people deal with that too.”
The rest could be a good thing for a team slated to play seven games in nine days starting Friday.
“I think our guys will be recharged and excited to be out there playing,” the coach said.

Punching their ticket
With Boston College’s loss on Sunday at Clemson, Virginia (16-7 ACC) secured a berth in the eight-team ACC Tournament, which will take place May 23-27 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Virginia will be joined by Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina and four other teams that will be determined during the final two weekends of league play.
O’Connor said the greater concern is the race for the Coastal Division title, a battle that his team leads over North Carolina (16-8 ACC) by a half-game.
“Our No. 1 goal right now is to win the Coastal Division of the ACC,” O’Connor said, “and in order to do that we have to play well in each of these ball games this weekend.”

Keeping things in order
For now, Virginia’s weekend rotation will remain in tact - Jacob Thompson, Matt Packer and Sean Doolittle will pitch in succession against the Wolfpack this weekend.
With the postseason nearing, O’Connor hinted at altering the rotation but said nothing is concrete at this point.
It is believed that Virginia’s coaching staff would prefer Thompson (10-0) to pitch in the team’s second game of an NCAA Regional.

Injury update
Despite the layoff, sophomore Jeremy Farrell remains about a month away from being able to throw. That will leave Farrell available only as a possibility at designated hitter or as a pinch hitter off the bench, O’Connor said.
Infielder Greg Miclat remains day-to-day and likely will play at least two games in the field against the Wolfpack.

 

No. 3 Cavaliers Deliver With a Throwback Style
By Marc Carig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 8, 2007; E01

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The fans who crammed into picturesque Davenport Field stood late on a warm spring evening, readying themselves for a familiar sequence of events.

Virginia starting pitcher Pat McAnaney had pitched well enough to keep his team in the game against Virginia Commonwealth last Tuesday and the Cavaliers' bullpen had provided 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. But with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of a 4-4 game, Virginia's Tim Henry, the potential winning run, crouched into an aggressive stance on the dirt next to first base, ready to run.

"If we can take a base, we're going to do it," Henry said.

Everybody in the ballpark -- from the big-money donors in their luxury boxes, to the fans lounging on the grassy knoll down the third base line -- knew what was coming. Just as the pitcher rocked into his throwing motion, Henry surged down the base path.

"Our style, I believe, lends itself to giving yourself a chance to win every night," head coach Brian O'Connor said, shortly after watching Henry go on to score the winning run. "If you don't come out and knock the fences down, you still have a chance to win that ballgame because you can run the bases, you can put the ball in play and you can pitch and play defense."

O'Connor has built Virginia into one of the nation's finest programs, transforming the Cavaliers into an old-school outfit that has thrived in the age of the aluminum bat. Behind one of the nation's best pitching staffs and by dusting off some of baseball's oldest relics -- place hitting, stolen bases, bunts -- Virginia has defied the new logic and climbed to a No. 3 ranking in the nation in the Baseball America poll, the highest in school history.

These days at Davenport Field, everyone digs the small ball.

"It's a very simple style of baseball," said Sean Doolittle, one of the team's best pitchers. "We've had a lot of success with it."

The Cavaliers (38-10) have made three consecutive trips to the NCAA regionals, and appear to be a lock to make it again. The success has started with pitching, the strength of the team in each of O'Connor's three seasons in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers have perhaps the deepest pitching staff in school history, which has given the team a set of stats that would stand out in the Dead Ball Era.

Virginia's pitching staff has an ERA of 2.47. Playing against Virginia, opposing pitchers have an ERA of 6.38. Of the country's top 10 teams in any of the four major polls, Virginia's combined ERA was at least a half-run better than every other program but Rice, through April 29, according to the NCAA.

The lack of pitching depth in college baseball is often most noticeable in the bullpen. Yet Virginia's relievers own a 2.08 ERA. Closer Casey Lambert, already the school's all-time saves leader, has 34 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. His ERA is 0.79.

Doolittle and Jacob Thompson, the team's top two starting pitchers, are a combined 17-3 in 23 starts with a 1.69 ERA. Thompson has 82 strikeouts in 85 innings. Doolittle has given up just one home run in 64 innings.

Yet, pitching is just half of Virginia's winning equation. The Cavaliers score enough runs to win despite averaging just 0.50 home runs per game, 199th in the nation and the lowest among the top 10 through April 29.

The Cavaliers make up for the power drain by batting .325 as a team and stealing 2.44 bases per game, among the leaders in the country. Infielder Greg Miclat already has a school-record 32 stolen bases in 37 attempts. He is one of six Cavaliers with at least 10 steal attempts.

"It's gotta be fun to watch," Doolittle said of his team's aggressive mind-set. "Because it's fun to play."

The Cavaliers' overall approach developed partly by preference and partly by necessity. O'Connor is a former college pitcher, a background shown by emphasis on loading up the program with live arms. Then there's the stadium effect -- Davenport Field shares the same cavernous qualities as RFK Stadium.

"The mind-set is driving it into gaps," said Cavaliers outfielder Brandon Guyer, who leads the team with six homers. "If you try to hit home runs it's not going to work in this ballpark. We take that small-ball approach."

The players have bought into O'Connor's system, which has once again served Virginia well in the regular season. But the Cavaliers still believe they have something to prove in the NCAA regionals, where the Cavaliers have been knocked out and outslugged in more typical college games. "This is the year where we have the depth and the quality from a position player standpoint, one through nine, to really put something special together," O'Connor said.

On a warm spring night against VCU, his team offered further proof that the system works.

VCU pitcher Nick Mattaliano and catcher Carlos Rodriguez did a nice job of anticipating Henry's departure and a perfect throw by Rodriguez got Henry at second. But as it turns out, they did too good a job. Umpires give Henry the base on a balk by Mattaliano. The pitcher, concerned with working fast, failed to set his hands before throwing.

"These things happen because people know our style of baseball," O'Connor said.

With Henry in scoring position, Tyler Cannon sent a shot up the middle. With Henry's slide into home plate, the Cavaliers received yet another piece of validation that their way is the right way.

"We play the game with our hair on fire," Guyer said, describing his team's philosophy. "The coaches preach that."

 

Cavs earn another shot at Princeton
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 8, 2007

The NCAA Tournament selection committee must have a flare for the dramatic. How else to explain the pairings that were unveiled on Monday night?

For the second straight year, the Virginia women’s lacrosse team will open the tourney at home against Princeton. UVa, the No. 3 seed, plays the Tigers on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Last season, Princeton upset Virginia at Klockner Stadium.

“When we [told the players], they were like, ‘You’re kidding, right?’” said Virginia coach Julie Myers. “They were surprised, but they have said all along that they expected to see Princeton again at some point in time. They just didn’t know it was going to come quite so early.”

Virginia (16-3) defeated Princeton, 9-7, during the regular season. If the Cavaliers can do it again, they’ll host the winner of sixth-seeded North Carolina and Richmond on May 19.

A meeting with UNC would be the third of the season. UNC won the regular-season matchup, while Virginia downed the Tar Heels in the ACC title game last weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“Winning a championship is going to be hard,” Myers said. “I think we have the toughest road to getting it done, but I like our team and how we prepare for big games. I think we play better against better opponents, so I think we can play it to our advantage.”

Northwestern was named the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Duke was tabbed as the No. 2. Maryland, the No. 5 seed, was the fourth ACC school to make the 16-team field. Boston College and Virginia Tech did not earn bids.

Myers admitted she was disappointed that Duke leapfrogged Virginia in the seedings. The Blue Devils get to open against LeMoyne.

“They got knocked out [of the ACC Tournament],” Myers said. “It didn’t seem to hurt [them] because they went ahead of both Virginia and North Carolina - the teams that played in the [championship].

“But I see where [the committee] was coming from because they were slightly tougher with their schedule and had the head-to-head win.”

Unseeded Princeton (10-6), which beat Virginia in the 2003 NCAA final, played its way into the tournament with a victory over Georgetown on Sunday.

“They’re really competitive and experienced and play their best lacrosse at the end of the season,” Myers said. “I wish they had a few more wins and we would have avoided them, but it is what it is. I think having lost to them last year, we learned a lesson. I would be shocked if it happens again.”