2015 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team

2015 Virginia Cavaliers baseball
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches #2
2015 record 1–0 (0–0 ACC)
Head coach Brian O'Connor (12th year)
Assistant coach Kevin McMullan (12th year)
Assistant coach Karl Kuhn (12th year)
Assistant coach Matt Kirby (4th year)
Home stadium Davenport Field
2015 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Atlantic
#4 Louisville 16 – 2   .889     27 – 9   .750
#9 Florida State 11 – 7   .611     27 – 12   .692
#25 Notre Dame 9 – 9   .500     24 – 11   .686
Wake Forest 9 – 9   .500     22 – 16   .579
Clemson 9 – 9   .500     20 – 18   .526
NC State 8 – 9   .471     20 – 14   .588
Boston College 6 – 11   .353     18 – 18   .500
Coastal
#6 Miami (FL) 14 – 4   .778     29 – 9   .763
#24 Georgia Tech 9 – 9   .500     24 – 12   .667
North Carolina 9 – 9   .500     23 – 14   .622
Virginia 7 – 11   .389     22 – 14   .611
Virginia Tech 7 – 11   .389     18 – 20   .474
Pittsburgh 6 – 12   .333     14 – 21   .400
Duke 5 – 13   .278     22 – 15   .595
‡ – Tournament champion
As of April 16, 2015[1]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The 2015 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team will represent the University of Virginia during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Cavaliers will play their home games at Davenport Field as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They will be led by head coach Brian O'Connor, in his 12th season at Virginia.

Previous Season

In 2014, the Cavaliers finished the season 2nd in the ACC's Coastal Division with a record of 47–14, 22–8 in conference play. They qualified for the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, and were eliminated in pool play. They qualified for the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament as the #3 overall national seed, and were placed in the Charlottesville Regional, of which they were hosts. Also in the regional were Bucknell, Liberty, and Arkansas. The Cavaliers defeated Bucknell, 10–1, in the opening game, and then shut out Arkansas, 3–0, to advance to the regional final. There, they again defeated Arkansas, this time by a score of 9–2. In the Super Regional, the Cavaliers fell in the opening game to ACC foe Maryland, 4–5. However, they rebounded and defeated the Terrapins in the next two games, 7–3 and 11–2, to advance to the College World Series.

In the College World Series, Virginia's first game was against Ole Miss, whom the Cavaliers defeated, 2–1. In the second round, Virginia defeated #7 national seed TCU, 3–2, in 15 innings. In the semifinals, the Cavaliers again defeated Ole Miss, this time by a score of 4–1. The Cavaliers advanced to the College World Series finals to play Vanderbilt. In the first game of the finals, the Commodores won by a score of 9–8. Virginia then rebounded to defeat Vanderbilt, 7–2, in game two. In a winner-take-all game three, Vanderbilt prevailed, 3–2, to be crowned national champions.

Personnel

Roster

2015 Virginia Cavaliers roster[2]
 

Pitchers

  • 6 - Matt Doughty - Freshman
  • 7 - Adam Haseley - Freshman
  • 11 - Bennett Sousa - Freshman
  • 13 - Alec Bettinger - Sophomore
  • 14 - Derek Casey - Freshman
  • 16 - Tommy Doyle - Freshman
  • 17 - Jack Roberts - Sophomore
  • 19 - Nathan Kirby - Junior
  • 20 - Brandon Waddell - Junior
  • 27 - Josh Sborz - Junior
  • 28 - Kevin Doherty - Junior
  • 29 - Riley Cummins - Freshman
  • 30 - Connor Jones - Sophomore
  • 32 - Mark Ostbye - Freshman
  • 34 - Riley Wilson - Freshman
  • 35 - David Rosenberger - Junior
  

Catchers

  • 8 - Robbie Coman - Junior
  • 21 - Matt Thaiss - Sophomore

Infielders

  • 2 - John La Prise - Junior
  • 4 - Ernie Clement - Freshman
  • 9 - Kenny Towns - Senior
  • 10 - Pavin Smith - Freshman
  • 12 - Charlie Cody - Freshman
  • 18 - Justin Novak - Freshman
  • 22 - Daniel Pinero - Sophomore
  • 25 - Jack Gerstenmaier - Freshman
  • 37 - Thomas Woodruff - Senior
  

Outfielders

  • 23 - Christian Lowry - Freshman
  • 31 - Joe McCarthy - Junior
  

Coaching Staff

Name Position Seasons at
Virginia		 Alma Mater
Brian O'Connor Head Coach 12 Creighton University (1993)
Kevin McMullan Associate Head Coach 12 Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1990)
Karl Kuhn Assistant Coach 12 University of Florida (1992)
Matt Kirby Assistant Coach 4 College of William & Mary (2003)

Season

February

The Cavaliers opened their season with a three-game series in Greenville, North Carolina against East Carolina. In game one, Virginia ace Nathan Kirby pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Cavaliers to a 3–1 win.[3]

Schedule

Legend
 Virginia win
 Virginia loss
 Postponement
BoldVirginia team member
2015 Virginia Cavaliers Baseball Game Log
Regular Season
Post-Season

All rankings from Collegiate Baseball.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Final 
Coaches' 2 2*  
Baseball America 4  
Collegiate Baseball^ 3  
NCBWA† 2

^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* Coaches' does not release a week 1 poll so for comparison purposes the pre-season poll ranking is inserted in the week 1 slot.

Awards and honors

Nathan Kirby
Brandon Waddell
Joe McCarthy

References

  1. ↑ "Baseball Standings". Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Official Baseball Roster". Virginia Cavaliers. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ "No. 2 Virginia Opens with 3-1 Win at East Carolina". University of Virginia Athletics. February 13, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "NCAA Div. I Pre-Season All-Americans". Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Preseason College All-Americans". Perfect Game USA. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "2015 College Preview: All-America Teams". Baseball America. Retrieved February 2, 2015.