No. 13 Virginia Looks to Regain Control of ACC Coastal vs. No. 20 Duke

A brilliant 30-4 start to the season had the Virginia baseball team ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation. Then came a rough patch over the last couple of weeks that saw the Cavaliers lose five of seven games, including two out of three at home against Pittsburgh followed by a three-game sweep at the hands of the Fighting Irish last weekend at Notre Dame.

Those losses dropped UVA down to No. 13 in the latest D1Baseball poll and has created some work to do for the Cavaliers as they now look up at Miami and Duke in the ACC Coastal standings.

"Baseball is a tough game. It's going to humble you and humble you quickly," said Brian O'Connor on Monday after returning from the trip to South Bend. "After coming off a tough weekend at Notre Dame, we have to get back on the horse and get back to work and get back to playing good Virginia baseball."

Some home cooking might be just what the doctor ordered for Brian O'Connor's Wahoos, who have begun an 11-game homestand and are scheduled to play two of their final three ACC series within the friendly confines of Disharoon Park.

In Virginia's next game after the Notre Dame sweep, the Cavaliers trailed the Liberty Flames 4-0 midway through the contest before staging a late rally to pull off a 7-4 comeback win. That's the kind of gut-check game that the Hoos are hoping can snap them back into form. They took the first step towards achieving that vision with a solid 13-4 win over Towson that saw many of UVA's struggling hitters start to climb out of their recent slumps.

The meat of Virginia's vaunted batting order - the 3-4-5 trio of Jake Gelof, Kyle Teel, and Ethan Anderson - combined to go 2 for 34 at the plate across the three-game series at Notre Dame, a mind-boggling aberration for three of the best hitters in college baseball. Teel, who was responsible for the only two hits of that group at Notre Dame, had another 0 for 4 outing on Tuesday against Liberty, but then bounced back in a big way with a career-high five hits in the win over Towson, a performance that could point the star catcher in the right direction. Similarly, Ethan Anderson went 0 for 10 at Notre Dame, went 1 for 3 vs. Liberty, and then went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI against Towson on Wednesday.

Virginia is still waiting for the home run king Jake Gelof to return to form. He's 2 for 19 over his last five games, a rough stretch at the plate that came immediately on the heels of a brilliant run that saw him homer seven times in a seven-game span as he became UVA's all-time home run leader. Gelof is simply too good of a hitter to stay in a slump for long and the Cavaliers would love for him to find his way at the plate entering the final month of the regular season.

Of course, the fault isn't completely on the UVA offense, as the Virginia pitching staff has come up short lately as well. The starting pitchers haven't gone as deep into games as they were earlier in the season and the bullpen hasn't been nearly as reliable as it was in the first half of ACC play as the Cavaliers earned series wins over North Carolina, NC State, Florida State, and Miami. UVA will need the weekend starters Brian Edgington, Nick Parker, and Jack O'Connor to set the tone from the mound, which starts with giving up less walks, and the Cavaliers will equally need the arms in the bullpen to be able to consistently put zeroes on the board against the potent offenses of the ACC.

While the 7-4 comeback win over Liberty didn't do much to encourage confidence, the Cavaliers generated some solid momentum in the comfortable 13-4 victory at Towson. Now, No. 13 Virginia (34-9, 12-9 ACC) has a big opportunity to reestablish its position as the class of the ACC Coastal Division as No. 20 Duke (29-12, 12-8 ACC) comes to Charlottesville for a pivotal three-game series.

The Blue Devils currently hold a slim lead for first place in the Coastal at 12-8, with Miami close behind at 13-9 and Virginia lingering at 12-9. Of course, the Cavaliers already own a three-game sweep over the Hurricanes from back in early April so a big weekend from the Hoos could move themselves back into the dominant position at the top of the division.

Duke comes into the series having won seven-straight games, thrusting into the rankings at No. 20 in this week's D1Baseball poll. The Blue Devils most recently swept then-No. 12 Louisville, winning each game by one run, and followed that up with an impressive 4-2 victory over then-No. 9 Campbell on the road on Tuesday. Duke's strength is its pitching, which ranks second in the ACC with a team ERA of 3.42 (Virginia is third at 3.72). The Duke bats don't boast nearly the same numbers as UVA's ACC-leading offense, but the Blue Devils have a number of capable batters in their lineup, including seven players hitting over .300 for the season, who can punish the Virginia pitchers if they don't bring their best stuff on the mound.

Virginia holds a 106-65-1 advantage over Duke in the all-time series, which dates back to 1926. UVA is 54-11 against Duke at home and 37-19 under Brian O'Connor. The Cavaliers are looking for their third-straight series win against the Blue Devils this weekend.

Here's the schedule for this weekend's series at Disharoon Park:

Game 1: Friday, April 28th at 8pm [ACC Network]
Expected starters: RHP Jason White (Duke) vs. RHP Brian Edgington (UVA)

Game 2: Saturday, April 29th at 4pm [ACC Network Extra]
Expected starters: RHP Alex Gow (Duke) vs. RHP Nick Parker (UVA)

Game 3: Sunday, April 30th at 1pm [ACC Network Extra]
Expected starters: RHP Ryan Higgins (Duke) vs. RHP Jack O'Connor (UVA)

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