Different week but same result for the Hoos over the weekend. UVA dropped games one and two on the road at Florida State before battling for a one run victory in the Sunday series finale.

Now the Hoos return home to begin an eight game homestand where they’ll also play eleven of the next twelve at home.

First up will be a Tuesday visit from the Richmond Spiders.

Game Schedule

Tuesday, March 9 – 3:00 PM

Team Records

Virginia: 6-5 (Overall), 2-4 (ACC)

Richmond: 5-2 (Overall), 0-0 (Atlantic 10)

Stat Comparison

The format will be raw stat and then rank in Division 1. Info is as of games played on March 7.

Batting

TEAM OBP SLG RUNS/GAME
Richmond .362 (115) .412 (88) 6.1 (89)
Virginia .311 (227) .296 (228) 4.7 (172)

OBP = On Base Percentage

SLG = Slugging Percentage

Pitching

TEAM ERA K/9 BB/9
Richmond 4.04 (85) 9.0 (144) 4.19 (103)
Virginia 2.94 (31) 13.1 (7) 4.83 (155)

K/9 = Strikeouts Per 9 Innings

BB/9 = Walks Per 9 Innings

Miscellaneous

TEAM FLD % RPI SOS
Richmond .962 (182) 167 215
Virginia .976 (70) 73 77

FLD % = Fielding Percentage

SOS = Strength Of Schedule

Note that all stats are from NCAA.com. RPI and strength of schedule data is from Warrennolan.com and is as of games played through March 7, 2021.

Series History

Separated by a quick trip on Interstate 64, it’s no wonder that Virginia and Richmond find themselves on one another’s schedule quite often.

This matchup will be the 149th in the series. UVA leads the series 87-59-2. Under Coach O’Connor, the Hoos are 15-1 against Richmond.

The lone loss happened during the 2018 season. The Spiders beat UVA 11 to 3 in Charlottesville that year. Richmond jumped out to an 11 to 0 lead in that contest before the Hoos scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th. UVA threw six pitchers in that game including current Wahoo Kyle Whitten.

Last season, the Hoos defeated Richmond 16 to 7 during a March midweek contest. UVA threw seven pitchers in the game. Blake Bales got the win. On offense, Logan Michaels was the star with 4 RBI. And Jimmy Sullivan hit his second homer of the season against the Spiders that afternoon.

Projected Starting Pitchers

Richmond RHP Collin Lowe (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 1 walk, 1 strikeout) vs UVA LHP Nate Savino (0-0, 1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts)

Lowe is a redshirt sophomore from Ridgefield, Connecticut. During the 2020 season, he made 4 starts in 4 appearances. In those 4 appearances, Lowe pitched a total of 23.0 innings and posted a 4.30 ERA and 1-2 record. For the season, Lowe walked 5 and struck out 19. He also hit 3 batters. Opposing batters hit .242 against Lowe during the 2020 season. The 2020 season was Lowe’s first year back post Tommy John surgery which caused him to miss the 2019 season.

Lowe’s only appearance during the 2021 season was a relief appearance against Mount Saint Mary’s during a 9 to 8 Richmond victory.

This will be Lowe’s first appearance against UVA.

D1 Baseball notes that Lowe was Richmond’s Saturday starter during the 2020 season. He’s reported to have the best pure stuff on the staff. He’ll feature a fastball that tops out in the mid 90s.

Weather Forecast Via Weather.com

It should be a beautiful afternoon for baseball in Charlottesville.

At first pitch, expect partly cloudy skies with the temperature around 70. By the end of the game, the temperature should be in the lower 60s.

There’s no precipitation in the forecast and winds should be a non factor during the game.

Media Coverage

It should come as no surprise that the game will be streamed on ACC Network Xtra. You can access the ACC Network Xtra stream via ESPN’s streaming platforms. Your content provider must carry ACC Network in order to access the stream.

WINA will also carry the game’s radio broadcast. Audio streaming is available on WINA.com. In the Charlottesville market, you can hear the radio broadcast over the air on 1070 AM or 98.9 FM.

Spiders To Watch

The sentimental favorite at Richmond is former UVA catcher Drew Blakely. The redshirt junior has made 6 starts in as many appearances for the Spiders this year. On the young season, Drew is batting .500 in 24 at bats. Blakely’s current slash line (batting average / on base percentage / slugging percentage) is .500/.556/.500. That equates to an OPS of 1.056. He’s scored 6 runs, driven in 2, walked once, been hit by 2 pitches, and struck out twice.

Richmond’s top threat at the plate appears to be Brown grad transfer Richie Ciufo. Ciufo, who plays 2B for Richmond, currently has the only homerun for the Spiders this season. He’s also second on the team in total hits with 9 while batting .391. His slash line is .391/.462/.652. That equates to an OPS of 1.114. Ciufo shares the team lead in several categories to include runs (6), triples (1), and RBI (6). He also leads Richmond in stolen based (3) and strikeouts (10).

Prediction

Richmond was picked 4th in the A10 preseason baseball poll by league coaches. D1 Baseball picked the Spiders 6th out of 13 teams in their own preseason A10 poll.

Richmond will return to action against UVA after having dropped a game to Central Michigan in Richmond on  Monday. Richmond’s other loss on the season was to fellow A10 member George Mason in a nonconference game. The spiders hold wins over VMI and Mount Saint Mary’s (x4). In other words, the Spiders have not played challenging competition to date so their record is likely a bit inflated.

The biggest wildcard in this matchup will be how long the Spiders intend to pitch Lowe. He sounds like he’d have the ability to frustrate the dormant UVA bats. But is this a predetermined staff day for Richmond that will give Lowe just one or two innings? The answer to that question could go a long way in deciding how frustrating this game may become.

From the UVA side of things, everyone will be looking for, and probably hoping for, some tweaks to the batting lineup. The bats have played Jekyll and Hyde all season. During the week against midweek competition, the bats are alive and reasonably strong. But they go back in their shell during weekend series.

If that pattern holds, UVA should win this one in a walkover. I’m not so sure the Hoos blow out Richmond. But the depth on UVA’s pitching staff should be enough to beat Richmond regardless of the Wahoo offense.

UVA opens this homestand with a win.

 

 

 

 

By Karl Hess

UVA sports fan since the mid 80s. Graduated from UVA in 2000. Currently residing in Virginia Beach. Also not the hoops ref.