FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia baseball coach Brian O’Connor has announced the Cavaliers’ 2013 schedule. The 54-game slate includes home ACC series against Florida State, Miami, NC State, Maryland and Duke as well as a three-game non-conference series at East Carolina.
The schedule features 21 games against programs that advanced to the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Twelve of UVa’s 20 road games will feature opponents that reached the NCAA tournament last year.
“Our players and coaches are looking forward to the upcoming 2013 season,” O’Connor said. “We have many exciting ACC opponents as well as challenging non-conference games. Our home schedule will allow Cavalier fans to once again experience some great baseball at Davenport Field. Every season, our schedule creates a great opportunity for our program to be challenged at the highest level of college baseball, and we look forward to the opportunity again this season.”
After a year hiatus, Virginia renews its series against East Carolina Feb. 15-17, as the Cavaliers travel to Greenville, N.C., to battle the Pirates for the season-opening weekend. The teams played home-and-home series in 2010 and 2011 and met again in the 2011 NCAA Charlottesville Regional, with UVa eliminating ECU in the championship game. The Pirates were NCAA Regional participants again last year.
Virginia opens its 34-game home schedule Feb. 19 at Davenport Field against William and Mary, marking the start of a 14-game home stand that lasts until March 13. As part of that stretch, the Cavaliers will play a three-game weekend series against Toledo (Feb. 22-24) and also a three-team round robin tournament the following weekend against Harvard and Bucknell (March 1-3). Toledo is the lone first-time opponent on the Cavaliers’ schedule, and UVa will be facing Harvard for the first time since 1965.
The Cavaliers open ACC play March 8-10 at home against Maryland. Virginia also will play home ACC series against NC State (March 22-24), Miami (March 29-31), Florida State (April 19-21) and Duke (May 10-12). FSU played in the College World Series last year, while NC State was an NCAA Super Regional participant and Miami hosted a regional.
Virginia’s five ACC road series are scheduled for Clemson (March 15-17), Wake Forest (April 5-7), Georgia Tech (April 12-14), Virginia Tech (April 26-28) and North Carolina (May 16-18). Clemson, Georgia Tech and UNC all competed in the NCAA tournament last season. UVa will play in Winston-Salem, N.C., against Wake Forest for the first time since sweeping the Demon Deacons there in 2009.
For the second straight year, UVa will not face Boston College in ACC play.
Virginia has non-conference home-and-home series slated against in-state foes Liberty and VCU. The Cavaliers will play host to Liberty on March 13 and travel to Lynchburg April 2 to play in the Flames’ new stadium. It will be the Cavaliers’ first game in Lynchburg since the 2005 season. UVa will travel to The Diamond in Richmond on April 30, with VCU returning to Charlottesville on May 14.
Virginia also will play host to George Washington (Feb. 26), VMI (March 6), Yale (March 19-20), Towson (March 26), Radford (April 10), Old Dominion (April 17), Richmond (April 23) and James Madison (April 24) in non-conference action.
The regular-season schedule is subject to change based on broadcast selections made by the ACC’s television and digital media broadcast partners. Both dates and times of games could be altered.
The Cavaliers return 18 letterwinners, including five position starters, from their 2012 squad which went 39-19-1 and reached the NCAA tournament for the ninth-consecutive season. UVa also welcomes a large class of 14 freshmen to form a young nucleus to the team. Of the 34 players currently on the roster, 25 are underclassmen.
