UVa Insider, The Column By Doug Doughty
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If Big 12 deputy commissioner Tim Weiser had returned my call Thursday, I would have asked if he really said Virginia’s baseball team had a “less than stellar” record against teams with an RPI under 100.

According to my calculations, UVa was 17-11-1 against top 100 teams. I’d say that’s closer to stellar than “less than stellar,” particularly when you consider the Cavaliers’ 7-5-1 record against teams with RPIs in the top 15.

If the RPI on the NCAA’s website is the one that was used in the selections, how could Virginia be ranked No. 6 overall but not get one of the 16 No. 1 seeds?

Not only did UVa get a No. 2 seed, but the Cavaliers were sent to California for the second straight year to play in a subregional with three California teams.

“We can certainly understand Virginia getting sent to the West Coast seems like punishment,” Weiser was quoted by Kendall Rogers of Yahoo.com. “But the Cavaliers had a less than stellar record against top-100 RPI.

“Some are going to say this is punishment, but I look at it as more rewarding other teams for playing well against some of the top RPI teams.”

In another article, Weiser was quoted as saying that Virginia did not play an impressive non-conference schedule.

"They are a strong team and that is a strong regional," Weiser said. ''But Virginia was sixth in the ACC and had a triple-digit non-conference schedule. They only had 17 wins against the top 100."

I will agree that Virginia did not play a strong non-conference schedule. The Cavaliers played 24 non-conference games, including 22 at home. The other two were at VCU and against Radford in Salem, and UVa probably had the largest fan following at those games.

Should UVa have done a better job of scheduling?

The only game the Cavaliers scheduled against a non-conference team ranked in the NCAA’s top 100 was a date with Coastal Carolina. The threat of bad weather cancelled that game before Coastal Carolina boarded its bus.

“Maybe some teams are playing more non-conference away games,” UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage said Thursday, “but this is a very complex topic.

“When you look at non-conference scheduling, schools in our region are going to be playing more home games than teams from the north and the Midwest, etc. That is a factor determined by weather.

“Let’s pick a team arbitrarily, say Seton Hall. When they start their schedule in February, you’re not going to see them playing a lot of home games. That is one situation where our locale may favor us.

“The second thing is, you’re playing your non-conference games primarily in the middle of the week. Either for academic reasons or budget mandates, schools were told last summer that ‘you’ll be playing your non-conference schedule in state or in the region.’

“I don’t think anybody is making the case that we deliberately scheduled a soft non-conference schedule, but it just happened this year, based on whatever those numbers are.
You can argue those factors or disagree with them, but those are the facts.

“We played more home non-conference games than not and that’s because teams come to us. We’re not going to be taking flights away from home for non-conference games. There’s no reason for us to do that when we’ve got teams from throughout the state that are willing to travel here or maybe we’ll travel there.”

In-state teams like to play at Virginia in football and basketball because they get guarantees that help them meet their budget. Littlepage implied that there is also some compensation in baseball.

“Using another school arbitrarily, let’s say Michigan State’s spring break is in late March, when they could come to our place,” Littlepage said. “We might not be able to go to their place because of our academic calendar when it might be otherwise advantageous to go.”

“Does all that make sense?”

Just out of curiosity, I checked some of the non-conference games played by the four ACC teams that received No. 1 seeds:

North Carolina had three non-conference road games (North Carolina-Wilmington, East Carolina and Charlotte).

Georgia Tech had six such games (two at Georgia Southern, one at Kennesaw State, one at Georgia, one at Georgia State and one at Western Carolina). Georgia State is located in Atlanta.

Clemson had five non-conference home games (two at South Carolina and one each at Georgia, Furman and Western Carolina).

Florida State played at Auburn, at Florida and against Florida in Jacksonville and North Florida in Jacksonville. Those final two sites would have to be considered neutral.

All four No. 1 seeds played better non-conference schedules than Virginia but not a whole lot better. If the Virginia-Coastal Carolina game had been played, would that have gotten the Cavaliers a No. 1 seed, probably not?

But what gets lost in all the discussion is the fact that Virginia won the ACC Tournament.

For Weiser to refer to UVa as a sixth-place team and then not mention the Cavaliers’ ACC championship is really cheesy. What becomes increasingly evident is that UVa’s four straight victories in Durham, N.C., didn’t count for much and that’s simply wrong.
 

UVa: No time to fuss
While the Cavs believe their regional assignment is unfair, they say they will talk about it later.
By Doug Doughty
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Virginia's march to the ACC baseball championship was the feel-good story of the Cavaliers' spring.

For about an hour.

That's how long it took for word to circulate that the Cavaliers (43-12-1) were not one of the 16 regional hosts for the NCAA tournament.

UVa got a No. 2 seed and was sent to Irvine, Calif., where it will meet third-seeded San Diego State (40-21) at 7 tonight in a regional that will include host UC-Irvine and defending NCAA champion Fresno State.

Virginia coach Brian O'Connor has been rushing to prepare his team for the Aztecs, coached by hall-of-famer Tony Gwynn, but, at some point, the Cavaliers' season will end. And, when it does, O'Connor will want some answers.

"Absolutely," O'Connor said earlier this week.

For one, how could the Cavaliers be the No. 6 team in the country according to the NCAA's own Ratings Percentage Index, and not get a top-16 seed?

In a news release Sunday in which it released the 16 host teams for this weekend, the NCAA identified Florida State as the ACC champion.

That was with the ACC championship game still in process, a game the Cavaliers would win 6-3.

"It wasn't particularly tight language," said UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage, who has experience in such matters from his terms on the NCAA men's basketball committee.

Tim Weiser, deputy commissioner of the Big 12 and chairman of the NCAA baseball committee, did not respond to an interview request from The Roanoke Times. However, he did make reference to the Cavaliers' "triple-digit" non-conference schedule in a conference call with reporters.

True, Virginia did not play a nonconference game against a team rated in the top 100, but wouldn't the RPI reflect that? The Cavaliers were scheduled to play No. 27 Coastal Carolina in Charlottesville, but that game was rained out.

"People can twist things however they want," O'Connor said. "For the good of our program, I need to get some answers."

Littlepage had a 20-minute phone conversation with Weiser earlier this week and hung up with a promise that they would speak again.

"Based on what I've seen from a basketball perspective, teams that are preoccupied with their selection or the seeding process or running the risk of losing their focus," Littlepage said.

Gwynn hasn't revealed his Game 1 starter, but it seems almost certain that UVa will face 6-foot-5 junior right-hander Stephen Strasburg, possessor of a fastball clocked at 103 mph.

Strasburg, projected as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, has made 14 starts this season and is 13-0 with a 1.24 earned run average and 180 strikeouts in 102 innings.

"The reality is, it's an unbelievable opportunity," O'Connor said.

Virginia's ace is 6-2 freshman left-hander Danny Hultzen (8-1, 2.21 ERA), but O'Connor said he would have to consider lineups in setting his rotation. The Aztecs have only two left-handed bats in their starting lineup, but O'Connor has no worries about Hultzen's poise.

"I think it's tremendous," he said. "The last time he pitched, there were close to 7,000 North Carolina fans in the stands in a must-win situation [at the ACC Tournament]."

The Cavaliers won 11-1 in a game that was stopped by slaughter rule in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"We have to deal with the cards we were dealt," O'Connor said. "I've never tried to use a decision that's out of our hands as motivation. This game is too hard to play without a chip on your shoulder."
 

Wilson: Cavaliers’ dependable source of relief
By Jeff White
Published: May 29, 2009

In the top of the eighth, with the score 3-3 in the ACC championship game, Tyler Wilson stood on the mound Sunday and, amid palpable tension at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, composed himself.

There was only one out, and the bases were full. And now the University of Virginia sophomore was trying to clean up the mess he'd made against top-seeded Florida State.

On a stage considerably larger than the diamond at Midlothian High, Wilson didn't stumble. The 6-1, 185-pound right-hander struck out one Seminole, then retired another on a fly ball to end the inning.

Nothing to it, huh?

Such anxious moments are a way of life for relief pitchers, but Wilson has embraced his role on a U.Va. team that opens the NCAA tournament against San Diego State tonight in Irvine, Calif.

"You've just gotta stay focused," Wilson said a day after the sixth-seeded Cavaliers beat FSU 6-3 to earn their first ACC championship in 13 years.

"You've got to have the willpower and be strong enough mentally to know that you can get it done, that you can accomplish it."

Wilson, U.Va.'s top middle reliever, is part of the large contingent of Richmond-area players in sixth-year coach Brian O'Connor's program. His teammates include Tyler Biddix (Mills Godwin), John Bivens (Prince George), David Coleman (Trinity Episcopal), Brad Grove (Deep Run), John Hicks (Goochland) and Will Roberts (Maggie Walker Governor's School).

Coleman entered U.Va. with Wilson in 2007 and enjoyed immediate success. Not so Wilson.

"It was a transition that I wasn't expecting," Wilson recalled this week. "Everybody comes in and wants to be that guy as a freshman and have a big year, but it's a change. It's an abrupt change from high school."

As a Midlothian senior, he'd been an All-Metro selection, and he played for USA Baseball's junior national team in the summer of 2007. As a U.Va. freshman, Wilson appeared in only 10 games and didn't record a decision.

"I think a lot of players find themselves in the same situation," said his father, Philip Wilson, a former Bethel High pitcher and outfielder who played in the San Diego Padres' farm system. "It was, I'm sure, humbling, but it drove him to become better."

At their end-of-the-season meeting, O'Connor challenged Wilson, who was bound for the Great Lakes Collegiate Summer League, to return to U.Va. a better player. And that's exactly what happened. Wilson was named the summer league's top pitcher, and his ascension continued during fall ball in Charlottesville.

"Coming back, I knew I wanted to make a statement," Wilson said. "I wanted to show them that I could really be a huge, pivotal cog in our machine."

In 24 appearances this season all but two in relief Wilson is 8-3 with a 2.96 earned-run average. In 522/3 innings, he's struck out 52 and walked 19.

"He's a really tough competitor, and he wants the ball," O'Connor said. "He's fiery on the mound, he's got a lot of confidence in himself, and he's got a lot of ability.

"The last two months, he's been really, really sharp, and that's been important for us. He and [closer Kevin] Arico have done a great job, and that's a big reason why we've had success down the stretch run."

Sophomore right-hander Robert Morey (2-0, 3.25 ERA) is expected to start for U.Va. tonight. The Cavaliers would prefer to be playing at Davenport Field, of course, but Wilson said the NCAA's decision to send them across the country won't affect the team.

"No matter where we traveled to, we're very confident right now," he said. "We're playing great baseball, and no matter who we face, they're not ready for Virginia."

U.Va. vs. San Diego State
When : Today, 7 p.m. TV: ESPNU
What : First game of the double-elimination NCAA tournament regional in Irvine, Calif. Virginia is seeded No.2 and San Diego State No.3. Top-seeded UC Irvine meets No.4 seed Fresno State, the defending NCAA champion, at 11 p.m.
Records : ACC champion Virginia is 43-12-1. San Diego State, an at-large representative from the Mountain West Conference, is 40-21.
Rankings : In the latest Baseball America poll, U.Va. is No.7. The Aztecs aren't ranked.
Coaches : Brian O'Connor's record in six seasons at Virginia is 259-101-1. Tony Gwynn, who played at San Diego State, is 213-211 in seven seasons as the Aztecs' coach. After an illustrious career with the San Diego Padres, Gwynn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.
NCAA appearances: This is the first for San Diego State since 1991 and ninth overall. U.Va. has reached the NCAA tourney in each of O'Connor's six seasons. The Cavaliers also played in the
NCAAs in 1972,'85 and'96.
Standouts : The all-Mountain West first team included three players from SDSU: junior pitcher Stephen Strasburg, sophomore outfielder Cory Vaughn and sophomore reliever Addison Reed. Strasburg, who's likely to start tonight, is considered the No.1 pro prospect in college baseball. The 6-4, 220-pound right-hander is 13-0 with a 1.24 earned-run average and has 180 strikeouts this season. . . . U.Va. placed five players on the all-ACC first team: freshman pitcher/first baseman Danny Hultzen, sophomore second baseman Phil Gosselin, junior shortstop Tyler Cannon and sophomore outfielders Dan Grovatt and Jarrett Parker.
- Jeff White
 

Cavs play waiting game
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 29, 2009

IRVINE, Calif. — The multi-million dollar question remains unanswered: Will Stephen Strasburg toe the rubber tonight against Virginia?

In a cat-and-mouse game, San Diego State coach Tony Gwynn has failed to tab a starter for the opening contest against the Cavaliers in the four-team, double-elimination regional hosted by UC Irvine.

The possibility remains, however, that Gwynn would use Tyler Lavigne against the Cavaliers (43-12-1) and hold Strasburg for a potential showdown with top-seeded UC Irvine on Saturday. Irvine (43-13) opens with fourth-seeded Fresno State, the defending national champion, tonight at 11 p.m. after the Cavaliers and Aztecs (40-21) finish up.

“Be there and you will find out,” Gwynn told reporters. “We are in a position of strength here in that we know. When you need to find out, you’ll know.”

Virginia, the No. 2 seed, has no option but to plan on facing Strasburg, a right-handed flamethrower that touches 100-plus miles per hour and is expected to be drafted No. 1 overall in June’s MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals.

The fact that Strasburg’s advisor, uber-agent Scott Boras, is expected to be in attendance tonight only strengthens Virginia’s expectations that they will face the nation’s best pitcher.

“Teams make decisions at different times for different reasons,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “They may still be evaluating what put them in the best position to win a regional. It doesn’t matter since we will know before the game starts.

“Whoever it is, we will be ready to compete.”

Strasburg (13-0) has fanned 180 batters in 102 innings and tossed a no-hitter against Air Force in an outing that included 17 strikeouts.

“That’s going to be awesome,” said Virginia right fielder Dan Grovatt. “That’s really what you want. If we are going to win the national title we are going to have to beat the best guy in the nation. That makes it legitimate to me, and we have faced North Carolina’s Alex White (twice) and there are going to be a lot of great pitchers that are going to be top picks from [the ACC].

“Strasburg is obviously a great talent, we are going to have our work cut out for us, but we will be up for the challenge.”

Luckily for Virginia, the typical lineup includes a host of left-handed bats including Jarrett Parker, Danny Hultzen and Grovatt and switch-hitting talents such as Tyler Cannon and Franco Valdes.

“I like the harder guys better,” said Grovatt, the most valuable player in Virginia’s ACC tournament title run. “I never hit the junkballers well. I like velocity, so bring it on I guess.”

Virginia will counter with sophomore Robert Morey (2-0, 3.25 ERA), who last pitched against Duke on Saturday in the ACC tournament.

“The last six weekends, Morey has been our most consistent starter,” O’Connor said. “Consistently over those six weeks he has gotten the best results and he is the freshest.

“[Matt] Packer and [Andrew] Carraway both pitched on Thursday and Sunday last weekend to win the ACC title. Either one of them would have to come back on four days rest.”

Hultzen, the ACC freshman of the year, is expected to start on Saturday for the Cavaliers.
 

Parker Named Louisville Slugger All-American
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/29/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia sophomore outfielder Jarrett Parker (Stafford, Va.) has been named a 2009 Third-Team All-American by Louisville Slugger as announced today by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Parker becomes UVa’s first All-America position player since Sean Doolittle in 2007.

Parker, a 2009 First-Team All-ACC pick, is batting .375 this season with a team-high 16 home runs and 60 runs batted in. He also has stolen 19 bases while playing in all 56 of the Cavaliers’ games.

Parker already has set the Virginia single-season runs record with 73. He also ranks among the top 10 in UVa single-season history in doubles (18 – T8th), triples (6 – T3rd), home runs (16 – T3rd), runs batted in (60 – T3rd) and total bases (162 – 2nd).

The Cavaliers’ leadoff hitter has scored at least one run in 42 of 56 games (75 percent) and ranks eighth in the ACC in batting. He leads the ACC in triples (6) and extra-base hits (40), is second in total bases (162) and fourth in hits (84).

Virginia (42-13-1) opens NCAA tournament play at 7 p.m. ET Friday, battling San Diego State in the NCAA Irvine Regional.

 

UVa Golfers in 26th Place with 3rd Round Play Suspended
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/28/2009

Toledo, Ohio – The Virginia men’s golf team was in 26th place when play in the third round of the NCAA Championships was suspended due to darkness. The Cavaliers will complete their final round Friday morning when play resumes at 7 a.m. UVa’s players are all within three holes of finishing the round.

Virginia stood at 14-over for the round when play was stopped. Junior Will Collins was leading the team at 1-over after 17 holes. Conrad Von Borsig was at 3-over with three holes left to play. Kyle Stough was at four over with three holes remaining, Bruce Woodall managed to complete his round at 5-over and Ben Kohles stood 8-over with three holes left to complete.

The top eight teams from the three rounds of stroke play will begin head-to-head match play Friday morning and Saturday to determine the national champion. The top eight teams from stroke play were Oklahoma State (849), Arizona State (862), USC (865), Arkansas (865), Washington (865), Michigan (868), Texas A&M (869) and Georgia (869).

NC State’s Matt Hill will be crowned the individual champion when stroke play is completed. No competitor still on the course when play was stopped was within 10 shots of his 6-under 207. The NCAA title will be his eighth individual title this year for the Wolfpack. Clemson’s Kyle Stanley will finish second at 4-under 209. Both of those players qualified as individuals since their teams did not advance through regional play.


 

ACC loss drives Virginia
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 29, 2009

At last month’s ACC championships in Tennessee, the Virginia women’s rowing team finished second behind Clemson. It was the first time in 10 years that UVa didn’t come away with the ACC title.

While the setback might have been a harbinger for some programs, it has proved just the opposite for the Cavaliers.

A week after the defeat, Virginia responded with resounding wins in an event on the Charles River in Boston. Then, two weeks ago, won the South/Central Regional championships for the third straight year.

As the NCAA championships get under way this morning in Cherry Hill, N.J., one thing is pretty clear: Losing at the ACCs may have been a blessing in disguise.

Virginia coach Kevin Sauer agreed that losing to Clemson in the event was a turning point of sorts.

“We had to identify what was holding us back,” Sauer said. “Basically, we just said, ‘Let’s just cut all the B.S. and do what we’re capable of doing.’

“I think the kids took that to heart.”

In the Varsity Eight race at regionals, UVa defeated Clemson, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin — all teams that will compete at the NCAA championships this weekend — in the grand final. Rounding out the 16-team field are Brown, California, Dartmouth, Harvard, Oregon State, Princeton, Southern California, Stanford, Washington and Yale.

“There are a lot of crews out there that could do something here,” Sauer said. “It’s pretty wide open.”

At regionals, Virginia took the overall team title and victories in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Novice Eight. Following the competition, Varsity Eight rowers Desiree Burns, Amanda Chase, Jennifer Cromwell and Augusta Stratos were named all-region by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

Sauer likes where his team is heading into this year’s championship.

“All the boats have responded really well,” he said. “Everyone’s been really consistent over the last couple of weeks. The two eights have acquired even more speed since the regionals and the 4s have gotten faster as well. Hopefully we can keep it going.”

At last year’s NCAA championship, Virginia finished fifth in the team standings behind champion Brown, Washington, California and Yale. UVa’s Varsity Four finished second, its Second Varsity Eight finished fourth and its Varsity Eight finished eighth.

Virginia has earned a berth to 12 NCAA championships in the 13-year history of the regatta. The Cavaliers have finished as runner-up at the NCAA championships three times in school history, most recently in 2007. That year, the Varsity Four was the national champion. In addition to that boat, five Virginia crews have been NCAA champions: the Second Varsity Eight (1998, 1999, 2005) and the Varsity Four (2004, 2005 and 2007).

Could this be Virginia’s year to win its first team championship?

“We really don’t go in saying, ‘This is our year to win,’” Sauer said. “It’s hard to know. It’s what you can bring, but also what other crews can bring. I told the kids the other day that we’re in the hunt and that means that we have a shot. Now it’s just up to us over the next few days to do it.”