Coming off a rough weekend the Hoos will look to get on with the winning ways today as they host William and Mary in the home opener at Davenport Field. The Hoos won a little bit, lost a little bit, and even kissed their sister a little bit this past weekend in Myrtle Beach. The 1-1-1 record gives the boys the third worst record in the ACC right now, but we all know it is too early to look at the standings.

The Tribe enter the midweek tilt with a 2-1 record after they took the series this past weekend when they hosted Rhode Island. Senior RHP Matt Davenport will take the mound for William and Mary in his initial appearance this year. Although he hasn't seen the mound this year, he struggled a bit last year. In 68 innings he compiled a 6.22 ERA and a 2-7 record. He struggled last year but was an All-CAA selection in his sophomore year with an 8-2 record an 1.82 ERA. He is tall and lanky at 6-8 but the Hoos should be able to handle the challenge.

At the plate, William and Mary has been paced by Senior INF Tadd Bower. Bower had four hits this past weekend in eleven at bats. He didn't have any RBIs which says he is more of a tablesetter but scored two of their seven runs. After looking at their stats from this season, William and Mary looks to be very aggresive at the plate. They don't walk a whole lot having only earned 7 walks while striking out 17 times. The Cavs' pitching staff is going to have to take advantage of that aggressiveness and make the Tribe earn every base.

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It has been about nine or ten years since UVa baseball fans had to deal with a .500 record or worse after the initial weekend of the season. We're in new territory UVa fans, but I see bright times in the not so distant future.

Saturday the Hoos ended up having to play a doubleheader against host Coastal Carolina and interstate rival James Madison due to inclement weather that ended up not even waiting til Sunday! As Michelle Tanner would say, "How wude!"

In the initial game of the day, the Chanticleers (that's right, named after Chaucer's character in the Canterbury Tales). The Cavs put on by far their best performance of the weekend against the team who many regarded to be their best competition. Starting pitcher Whit Mayberry had his best performance since UNC in the ACC tournament last season throwing 6 innings, striking out 4, giving up only 2 earned runs, and not issuing a single walk. The bullpen closed out the game giving up only one run on two hits the final three innings. At the plate, 4th year Jared King paced the team with four RBIs, 2 runs, and 3 hits including a three run home run in the seventh inning. The Hoos ended up winning 9-3 to improve to 1-1 on the year and raced over BB&T Coastal Field after the game.

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Going in to the weekend and the season we all knew there would be growing pains, but we hoped they wouldn't be coming in the first game of the season. Fortunately for the UVa baseball team, it was only game one of a 56 game season.

I mentioned in the preview article for the weekend and the season that catching was going to be rough for the Hoos. There is a lot of pressure put on the position in the program and it is going to take a while for Coach Kuhn and whoever is behind the plate to become comfortable with each other. First year Nate Irving is more than capable of being a good catcher in the system. Having said that, he can't let happen again what happened against Boston College.

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This time last year the Hoos were loaded, widely regarded as an ACC favorite, and lead by the future #2 draft pick. This year, the Cavalier baseball team has a few new holes to fill and questions to answer; just how Coach O'Connor and staff like it.

Sure, it is fun to be in the top ten every year, but the UVa baseball program loves to upset the applecart and beat teams that didn't thin they would be beaten. No better way to start a year than to do it at Coastal Carolina against three different teams. Both Coastal Carolina and JMU were featured last year in the NCAA tournament.

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Dearest STL baseball followers, I apologize for being so absent the past few months. Brian has nearly disowned me and physically accosted me because I haven't blessed you all with a season preview. BUT, never fear! I have returned with a vengeance just like the Hoos baseball team has to provide you with all the snarky comments and 9th inning comebacks your hearts can take! (And let's be honest, we've all been satisfied with basketball and football this year that we haven't needed spring sports like others! Chick Fil-A Bowl! Mike Scott! JOE "WILL CAMPBELL WANTS TO MARRY MY SISTER" HARRIS!)

We all know how last season started, continued, continued some more, nearly ended in a 9th inning against UC Irvine, continued against a Cal team that was almost gotten rid of, and then ended against the eventual National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

There is no Danny Hultzen this year, John Hicks won't be behind the plate, Steven Proscia won't drop and drive on every fastball he sees, and Tyler Wilson won't be leaping over the foul line as he lets everyone know how pumped he is, but that has never stopped the Hoos before.

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Former Virginia phenom now Seattle Mariner Danny Hultzen had his professional debut recently, with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.  Following the game, MLB.com interviewed the No. 2 overall draft pick (still sounds good, right?) on how he felt, what his pitching style is, and whether he misses hitting.

You already know all of his stats and awards, so I don't need to post them here. But they're fun to list, so here we go.  In 2009 he was Virginia's first ever ACC Freshman of the Year, and he followed this up in 2010 by becoming Virginia's first ever ACC Pitcher of the Year.

In 2011, he led the conference in strikeouts (165) and was second in the nation in the same category. He was a unanimous first team All-American, and on top of that, was a finalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy. He pitched 9.1 scoreless innings through two games in the 2011 College World Series.  Oh, and don't forget he won the the John Olerud Two-Way Player Award.

Speaking of being a two-way player, Hultzen says in the interview that he definitely misses hitting.  Having both pitched and hit all his life, he says, "it's a little weird to be watching more games than I play in."  He's still waiting for the conversation to talk about possible hitting opportunities, but says that there's plenty of other things to do right now.

Hat tip to the Foundation's Alex Inman and Professor J. Taylor Beard for the video.

The entire 2012 schedule for the baseball program hasn't officially been released yet but, we do have the ACC slate the Cavaliers will face. Per the division rules, the Hoos will face all five Coastal division opponents and all but one Atlantic division team. For the past two years, Wake Forest has been the team that got to avoid the Cavaliers but for 2012 and 2013, that team will be the BC Eagles. 

(Home Series in BOLD)

The hardest part of the schedule is clearly going to be the back to back weekends of Clemson and Florida State in March. Both teams are perennial powerhouses and this year should be no different. Cavalier fans should be getting their tailgates and orange shirts ready for both the April 13-15 showdown with the Tar Heels and the May 11-13 faceoff with the Yellow Jackets. The Tar Heels are coming off a 2011 run to Omaha and are expected to make a return visit while Georgia Tech underachieved this past year in the NCAA tournament but is an ACC favorite. 

All in all, to quote Dennis Green "THEY (the schedule) ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!" No surprises on the ACC schedule but it would be nice to rotate again through the Atlantic and have FSU or Clemson off the schedule and feed off the weaker division in the conference. 

It came down to the wire, but the Seattle Mariners and 3rd year (now 4th year) Danny Hultzen were able to come to a monumental agreement last night just minutes before the midnight EST signing deadline. As is the case with many high draft picks in baseball, it seems that talks did not really heat up until yesterday with the two sides being pretty far apart at the beginning of the process.

It was rumored just before the draft that Hultzen was asking for somewhere in the $13 million range over four years which would have been the second highest signing bonus in the history of the draft and affected his draft stock. Instead, Danny was selected #2 overall and has agreed with the Mariners to a five year deal guaranteeing him $8.5 million with a $6.35 million signing bonus. Not the highest ever, but is actually the fifth largest guarantee in the draft only behind Strasburg ($15.1), Mark Prior ($10.5), Bryce Harper ($9.9), and Mark Teixeria ($9.5). Hultzen was also guaranteed to receive more than Gerritt Cole, who was the only player to be drafted ahead of him and will only receive $8 mil (chump-change DH says).

More and most importantly, Hultzen signed a major league deal which means he is automatically put on the 40 man roster. To make room for Danny, the Mariners dropped former Willam and Mary pitcher Chris Ray from their roster (suck it Tribe!). Hultzen will also join the Mariners this spring in big league spring training camp with a very good shot at making the Opening Day roster! Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik said ""We'll give Danny a shot right off the bat to see if he can make the big league club or not." With a rotation of Hernandez, Pinieda, and Hultzen, if the Mariners can learn how to hit they could do some damage in the West in 2012.

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