Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): It might be tempting for fans of Virginia Baseball to look past this upcoming three-game series against the University of Pittsburgh due to the gargantuan importance of the Easter weekend series with Florida State next week.  The Hoos, coming off a mercy rule drubbing of Virginia Commonwealth University on Tuesday evening by a score of 13-0, will look to carry the momentum on the offense end against a struggling Pitt team four places below them in the ACC standings.  The importance of a series victory against the Panthers cannot be understated.  Not only will they climb the table should they win two (or three) games at the Dish, however if each man on the roster pulls his weight, hitters and pitchers alike, the machine will be rolling against a Seminole team yet to show a chink in its armor next week in Tallahassee.   

Pitt’s most recent action on the diamond did not go their way, losing two of three to the Miami Hurricanes at home, including a game three defeat by a score of 14-4 in seven innings.   They too have fallen victim to both Boston College and NC State, and have only managed four wins in conference play this season.  Depending on your perspective, their game against Youngstown State on Tuesday was cancelled due to weather, either resulting in more rest or decreased sharpness in game situations (or both).  Pitching has not been their problem throughout the year.  Their staff ERA sits at 5.52, but their junior ace, lefty Ryan Reed has a respectable mark of 3.80 in eight starts.  Pitt also boasts several solid bullpen arms in Ethan Firoved (2.84 ERA, .207 oppBa, 42 K’s in 13 appearances), Gavin Chillot and Matt Porter (3.29 and 3.86 ERAs in 17 appearances combined).  Opponents are hitting .274 against Pitt pitching.  The Panthers also have three .300 hitters in their regular lineup, sophomore infielder Ryan Zuckerman, junior outfielder AJ Nessler, and their star first baseman, senior Luke Cantwell.  One of the toughest outs in the ACC, Cantwell is slashing .398, leading the team in hits, doubles, and most impressively, on base percentage (53.8%).  Shut those hitters down however, and the Panther offense is quickly de-clawed.   

Reed will pitch Friday against Virginia ace Jay Woolfolk.  Get past him and burn as many bullpen arms as possible in game one and winning the series will get significantly easier in the second and third games for Virginia.  Lefty Patrick Gardener will battle last season’s Virginia ace, lefty Evan Blanco on Saturday, both southpaws have ERAs over 6 and are looking for a bounce back.  Finally, lefty Tomas Valincius takes on righty Drew Lafferty on Sunday.  Lafferty has walked 17 batters in 30.1 innings of work,and Valincius has nearly double his opponent’s strikeout #’s despite several bad innings scattered around his otherwise sterling first-year record in the Virginia rotation.   

Virginia’s offense continues to swing hot bats, provided the infield defense and bullpen control is cleaned up, the Hoos could be looking at one of the most important ACC series victories of the season.  First pitch tonight is at 6:00pm, Saturday at 4:00pm, and Sunday at 1:00pm.  Pre-game coverage will begin 15 minutes before game start every single gameday on Newsradio WINA and here on Cvillerightnow.com