Virginia Baseball Regional Central: Starting Pitchers, Lineups, Everything You Need to Know

Here is everything that you need to know for this weekend's Hattiesburg Central

Henry Zatkowski is getting the start on Friday for UVA | Virginia Athletic

The 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament is almost here.

Regional play begins tomorrow, and Virginia Baseball is heading to Hattiesburg, MS to participate in the Hattiesburg Regional hosted by Southern Miss. UVA enters the weekend with a 36-21 record and finished 8th in the ACC. Last week in the ACC Tournament, Virginia took care of business against Duke in the second round and then fell against Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals by a score of 16-10.

Scores

Friday, May 29

• Game 1: Southern Miss vs. Little Rock, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
• Game 2: Virginia vs. Jacksonville State, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Saturday, May 30

• Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
• Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2

Sunday, May 31

• Game 5: Loser of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 3
  Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 (potential elimination game)

Monday, June 1

• Game 7: Rematch of Game 6 (if necessary)

Bracket

• Game 1: Southern Miss vs. Little Rock
• Game 2: Virginia vs. Jacksonville State
• Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
• Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
• Game 5: Loser of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 3
• Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5
• Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch of Game 6

Opponents

• Southern Miss (44-15)
• Jacksonville State (46-13)
• Little Rock (36-26)

Coverage Links

• Virginia Baseball World Series Tracker
• Virginia placed in the Hattiesburg Regional
• Opening Odds for Hattiesburg Regional
• Virginia Baseball Regional Breakdown
• Virginia Baseball Keys to Winning The Hattiesburg Regional

Pitching Rotation

LHP Henry Zatkowski (8-1, 4.03 ERA, 80.1 IP, 23 BB, 92 SO) is going to get the start for UVA against Jacksonville State in the opening game of the regional for both teams. This is not a huge surprise, as Zatkowski has been the Cavaliers' best pitcher this season and gives them the best chance to win the opening game, which is going to be critical to advance.

The rest of the rotation is up in the air, but some combination of John Paone, Max Stammel, and Kyle Johnson are almost certainly going to make up the rest of the starters for the weekend.

Projected Starting Lineup

1. SS Eric Becker

2. CF AJ Gracia

3. 2B Joe Tiroly

4. 1B Sam Harris

5. LF Harrison Didawick

6. C Jake Weatherspoon

7. 1B Antonio Perrotta

8. RF Zach Jackson

9. 3B Noah Murray

This has been the best lineup for the Hoos this season and I project it will be what they line up with tomorrow night.

Path To The College World Series

If Virginia is able to get out of this regional and advance to the Super Regionals, they would face the winner of the Gainesville, FL regional, which consists of Florida (host), Miami, Troy, and Rider. The Gators are the favorite to advance out of the regional, but dont' count out Miami or Troy. The Super Regionals are a best of three series and if Florida is the winner of the Gainesville regional, they would host the super regional next weekend.