CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia baseball head coach Brian O’Connor has announced his program’s schedule for the 2017 season. The Cavaliers open their season Feb. 17-19 in Charleston, S.C., prior to returning home Feb. 21 to kick off their home schedule against VMI.
The schedule features 19 games against teams that competed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Six of UVA’s 10 ACC series are against programs that played in the NCAA tournament last year.
UVA is slated to play Liberty, The Citadel and Kansas in The Citadel’s season-opening tournament in Charleston at Joseph P. Riley Park, home of the single-A Charleston RiverDogs. UVA then returns to Davenport Field to open its 35-game home schedule with a nine-game homestand, highlighted by a series with Rutgers (Feb. 24-26) in the programs’ first match-up since 1962, as well as a midweek contest against William & Mary (Feb. 28), which participated in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional last June.
Virginia plays its first two weekends of the ACC schedule on the road, traveling to North Carolina (March 10-12) and Clemson (March 17-19).
UVA begins its home ACC slate March 24-26 against Duke. The Cavaliers also face Louisville (March 31-April 2), Pitt (April 7-9), Notre Dame (April 21-23) and Miami (May 12-14) in home ACC series. Pitt and Notre Dame are playing their first conference series at Davenport Field; the Panthers are coming to Charlottesville for the first time since 1981, while the Fighting Irish are making their first trip since 1991. Duke, Louisville and Miami each were NCAA tournament participants last year.
The Cavaliers also travel to face Virginia Tech (April 14-16), Florida State (April 28-30) and Georgia Tech (May 18-20) in conference play. Three of UVA’s five road ACC series are against programs that reached the NCAA tournament (Clemson, FSU, GT).
Virginia does not play Boston College, NC State or Wake Forest in regular-season ACC play.
UVA plays home-and-home series with George Washington and VCU in non-conference action. The Cavaliers and Colonials square off in Washington, D.C., on March 7 – UVA’s first game in the District since 1996 – and at Davenport Field on April 5. UVA and VCU face off in Richmond at The Diamond on March 28 and in Charlottesville two weeks later on April 11.
The 2016 ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 23-28 at Louisville Slugger Field, home of the triple-A Louisville Bats, in downtown Louisville, Ky.
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.
Under the tutelage of 14th-year head coach Brian O’Connor, Virginia returns 22 letterwinners from its 2016 squad that finished 38-22 and earned host status for an NCAA Regional, marking the Cavaliers’ 13th straight trip to the NCAA tournament. UVA won the 2015 National Championship and has earned four College World Series berths and six NCAA Super Regional appearances since 2009.
All-America outfielder/pitcher Adam Haseley and All-ACC infielders Pavin Smith and Ernie Clement highlight the returning players for the Cavaliers. The junior trio comprises half of Virginia’s six returning position starters.
2 comments
Small possible correction; GW plays its home games at Barcroft field in Arlington Virginia as there are no baseball fields on its urban campus. So unles sthey’ve agreed to play that mid-week game elsewhere in the District (how about Nationals stadium?) its likely not going to be UVA’s first game in DC proper in a while.
That was the press release we posted….
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