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    The Virginia baseball team huddles on the mound during the game against Louisville at Disharoon Park.

    UVA's Postseason History Runs Deep With Charlottesville Regional Participants

    Virginia has faced Army, East Carolina, and Oklahoma multiple times in the NCAA Baseball Tournament
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    Virginia was selected to host the Charlottesville Regional at the NCAA Baseball Tournament for the first time since 2016, giving the Cavaliers a crucial home-field advantage given their impressive 32-4 home record this season. With that said, UVA's draw of opponents in the regional round did the Hoos no favors, as each of the other baseball programs participating in the Charlottesville Regional have played multiple NCAA Tournament games at Disharoon Park. 

    Army, Oklahoma, and East Carolina have played a combined nine NCAA Tournament games against Virginia and the Cavaliers are a combined 4-5 against those three teams historically in postseason play. 

    Virginia's first opponent in this year's Charlottesville Regional is Army, a team who has played at UVA in the NCAA Tournament twice before. This will be the third time that the Cavaliers and Black Knights are squaring off in the opening game of the Charlottesville Regional. UVA and Army played each other in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2012 and 2013, with the Cavaliers prevailing 9-1 in 2012 and 2-1 in 2013. Virginia went on to win the 2013 Charlottesville Regional, but the Hoos did not do the same in 2012, as Oklahoma, another team participating in UVA's regional this season, came out on top of the Charlottesville Regional in 2012. 

    Oklahoma and Virginia have faced each other four times in the postseason, with the Sooners winning three of those matchups. In the 2010 NCAA Tournament, UVA and Oklahoma met in the Super Regional round in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers claimed the first game 3-2, but the Sooners came back to win the second game 10-7 and the decisive third game 11-0 to advance to the College World Series. Two years later, Oklahoma ended Virginia's season again by defeating UVA 5-4 to win the 2012 Charlottesville Regional. 

    And then there's East Carolina, a team that has faced Virginia three times in the NCAA Tournament and twice in Charlottesville. In 2011, UVA defeated ECU 13-1 to clinch the Charlottesville Regional. In the 2016 NCAA Tournament, East Carolina earned an 8-6 win over Virginia, who was then eliminated by William & Mary and the Pirates went on to win the regional. Last season, the Cavaliers and Pirates met again, this time in the 2022 Greenville Regional hosted by East Carolina with Virginia as the No. 2 seed. Both teams won their first games and then ECU beat UVA 4-2. Virginia then lost to Coastal Carolina in an elimination game and East Carolina went on to advance to the Super Regional. 

    "All three of the teams have played here in tournament play and so, we remember all of those. Certainly Army has played well here. In 2016, East Carolina won it here. And then, Oklahoma has had success in this ballpark as well and that speaks to the level of those programs, first and foremost," said UVA head coach Brian O'Connor on Monday. "Not only have we been in this situation a lot, they have as well. So, their coaches are experienced and understand what it takes to win at this time of the year. We have a tremendous challenge in front of us, but a great opportunity, and one that we're excited about and looking forward to." 

    While all three of Virginia's opponents have historical experience playing NCAA Tournament games at Disharoon Park, and East Carolina and Oklahoma have success winning regionals in Charlottesville, this is a new season with different players and UVA's dominant track record at home (32-4) and against non-conference opponents (25-0) this season should give the Cavaliers plenty of confidence as they will have home-field advantage in every game on their quest to return to the College World Series. 

    Virginia will open the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament against Army on Friday at 12pm at Disharoon Park and streamed on ESPN+. The winner of that game will face the winner of East Carolina vs. Oklahoma (Friday at 7pm) on Saturday. Virginia, Army, East Carolina, and Oklahoma will play a double-elimination round-robin tournament until three of the four teams have suffered two losses and one remaining team is crowned as the Charlottesville Regional champ and advances to the Super Regional round. 

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