Virginia Cavaliers Final '07 Rank: 13 45-16

The Cavaliers had eventual champion Oregon State on the ropes, leading the Beavers in the Charlottesville Regional by two going into the eighth inning of what was an elimination game for OSU. The Beavers rallied to stave off elimination and won a decisive game three in the series to advance to the Super Regionals thus prematurely ending the Cavs’ postseason run. Virginia finished at 45-16 (19-9 ACC), their fourth year in a row with at least 40 wins. The graduating Cavalier seniors played in four regionals, hosting three of them, but failed to go the distance and have yet to make it to the College World Series. That could all change in 2008 as a potent group of Cavaliers will be taking the diamond making a postseason trip to Omaha, a definite possibility.

The Cavaliers had one of the most effective pitching staffs in the nation in 2007, finishing third overall in ERA at 2.81 and 14th in strikeouts per nine innings, ending at 8.2 K’s per game. The departure of starter Sean Doolitte (2.40, 8-3) hurts, but the Cavs have one of the best arms in baseball returning in junior Jacob Thompson. After going after going 10-4 with a 2.60 ERA as a freshman, Thompson elevated his game in ‘07 going 11-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched. His marks earned him a spot on the USA Baseball National Team. He’ll be rejoined in the weekend rotation by sophomore Matt Packer who had a respectable 4.22 ERA with 59 Ks in 64 innings pitched his first year of college ball. Senior Jake Rule (2.63, 6-4) had a great season in relief his first year since transferring from William and Mary. He also struck out 43 batters in 41 innings and led the team with 29 appearances. Fellow senior Michael Schwimer is an imposing presence on the hill, standing at 6’8”. His numbers were similar to Rule’s, compiling a 3-1 record with a 2.77 ERA and fanning 38 batters in 39 frames. Two more hurlers, senior lefty Pat McAnaney (3.34, 2-0) and junior righty Andrew Carraway (3.60, 5-0) went a combined 7-0 and also provided some spot starts.

The before mentioned Doolittle was also an important part of Virginia’s offense, batting .301 with 53 RBI; the Cavaliers will need someone to step up and make up for the loss of his run production as well as his pitching numbers. A monster year is anticipated from second baseman junior David Adams. Last year, Adams hit .372 with five homeruns, four triples and 10 stolen bases for the year. While the Cavalier bats fell silent during the Regional hitting at .234 for the tournament, Adams continued to make contact, finishing with a .429 average in the four games. Another bat which should be intrumental at the top of the lineup is that of infielder Greg Miclat. A junior switch hitter, Miclat batted .376 and swiped 32 bases last year, but was forced to undergo surgery on his throwing arm to cut his season short. He should be back to 100% by the first game of the season. First baseman Jeremy Farrell, a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in '06, batted .349 in an injury shortened season. He is healthy this year and should be one of the big bats in the middle of the UVA attack. Senior Patrick Wingfield is also a welcomed return to the starting lineup. The third baseman has a career batting average of .318, but will have to reverse his trend of a dropping batting average which has slipped 40 points a year since hitting .382 as a freshman. Tyler Cannon showed strong potential as a freshman, batting .279 with 13 extra base hits and eight stolen bases while playing shortstop. His flashy fielding has drawn comparisons to former Cavalier, and current Washington National, Ryan Zimmerman.