UVa unveils baseball schedule

When Virginia was shipped to California last year for the nation’s deepest regional, one member of the selection committee barked about the non-conference schedule that the Cavaliers entertained for justification of the move.
Should Virginia be snubbed again in 2010, a new excuse will be needed.
The Cavaliers, fresh off a 49-win season and their first trip to the College World Series, announced their upcoming schedule on Monday, one that includes an intriguing three-game series at perennial power East Carolina during the opening weekend of the season.
In all, Virginia will face 11 opponents that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year, and 12 games against foes that advanced to the Super Regional round.
After facing the Pirates in Greenville, N.C., the Cavaliers will entertain Rhode Island (Feb. 26-28) and a round-robin tournament with Wright State and Dartmouth the first weekend in March.
“On the first three weekends in out-of-conference play, three of the four teams that we play are NCAA teams and the one team that wasn’t, Rhode Island, was very deserving of being in the tournament,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I don’t really care about what the critics are saying about our schedule.
“Obviously, it didn’t hurt us in having one of the top five RPI’s in the country last year. Our schedule will remain to be the same.”
While Dartmouth, Rhode Island and Wright State combined to go 87-68 last year, the series inked with East Carolina is viewed as a win-win situation and will provide the Cavaliers a marquee contest at Davenport Field in 2011.
“I am excited about our two-year agreement with East Carolina. We will open up the
season at their ballpark this year and they return it during the second weekend of the season in 2011,” O’Connor said. “They have a very good baseball program and it is a chance for two really good programs to meet.
“Their coach and I have always talked about how we should play and finally it becomes a reality.”
O’Connor envisions the feisty slate preparing Virginia for a tough draw to open ACC play — the Cavaliers open at Florida State (Mar. 12-14) before hosting Boston College (Mar. 19-21) and Clemson (Mar. 26-28). All three played in the postseason last year.
“We are challenged right out of the gate in conference play at Florida State, so in order to be prepared and have a chance to win an ACC title in the regular season we needed to be challenged in the first three weekends,” O’Connor said. “It will help us be that much more
prepared for what we will experience.”
The Cavaliers will also host Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech in league play. The final four road trips will be made to Duke, Maryland, Miami and N.C. State.
Virginia will attempt to defend its ACC Tournament title from May 26-30 in Greensboro, N.C., where the event will be held after a deal fell through again to host it at Fenway Park in Boston.
In addition to the series at ECU, Virginia will play three non-conference games on the road. The Cavaliers travel to William & Mary (Mar. 10), James Madison (Mar. 17) and VMI (Apr. 14).
Virginia, which has 35 home games, will open play at Davenport Field on Feb. 24 against George Washington.
General admission season tickets will go on sale Oct. 15 at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office. Packages for adults are $100 and $75 for youth, seniors (60 and over) and current university staff and faculty.