Charlottesville Regional Preview

Baseball America will break down all 16 regionals, including Charlottesville, hosted by defending national champ Virginia. Michael Lananna has the details.

STAT PACK (National rank in parentheses)
	Avg.	Scoring (R/G)	HR	SB	ERA	K/9	WHIP	Fielding %age
1. Virginia	.301 (30)	6.7 (44)	37 (98)	27 (270)	4.15 (98)	7.0 (162)	1.33 (55)	.971 (98)
2. Bryant	.323 (4)	8.1 (6)	55 (30)	61 (106)	3.09 (11)	7.8 (69)	1.35 (69)	.971 (89)
3. East Carolina	.286 (84)	5.2 (164)	27 (173)	66 (78)	3.39 (28)	7.3 (118)	1.28 (35)	.970 (111)
4. William & Mary	.280 (116)	6.4 (65)	36 (108)	34 (240)	5.18 (195)	6.3 (237)	1.62 (223)	.961 (240)

1. Virginia (37-20, 19-11 in ACC)
16th appearance (13th straight), at-large, second place in ACC Coastal

Top 300 Prospects: RHP Connor Jones (22), C Matt Thaiss (28)

Season in a Sentence: The defending national champions hit somewhat of a midseason lull, but they battled back—just as they did last season—to finish strong in ACC play and position themselves to host.

Player to Watch: Matt Thaiss, c: Scouts consider Thaiss one of the best college hitters in the 2016 draft class, and it’s hard to argue with his .382/.477/.591 line and 10 home runs this season. Though not a gifted defender behind the plate, he provides the kind of game-changing thump you hope for in the middle of a lineup.

Best Weekend: at Miami, April 22-24. The Cavaliers won a series against Miami on the road—a feat that only it and Florida had accomplished this season. That series win kicked off an eight-game road trip in which Virginia won seven games, and the Cavaliers finished scorching hot, entering the national seed discussion before the ACC tournament.

Outlook: It probably isn’t wise to bet against the defending national champions and a team that has made the College World Series finals two years straight. The Cavaliers are better primed this year, too, after having to play out of the Lake Elsinore Regional last season as a No. 3 seed. Bryant and East Carolina have strong resumes and are intriguing upset picks, but this is Virginia’s regional to lose.

2. Bryant (47-10, 26-4 in Northeast)
Third appearance (first since 2014), automatic qualifier, first place in Northeast Conference

Top 300 Prospects: None.

Season in a Sentence: Bryant had the No. 231 strength of schedule in the country, according to WarrenNolan.com, but the Bulldogs did what a team has to do against that kind of competition—dominate—posting the best winning percentage and best run differential in the country.

Player to Watch: Robby Rinn, 1b: The senior won the Northeast Conference’s player of the year for his .378/.442/.591, five-homer season in 225 at bats. The Bulldogs will need him to continue to hit at that level as they’ll be without junior outfielder Matt Albanese (.366/.471/.639, 11 homers), who broke his hand late in the season.

Best Weekend: Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic, Feb. 26-28. The Bulldogs showed their mettle early on in the season with a winning weekend at the first-annual Gwynn Classic in San Diego. Bryant defeated both San Diego State and Kentucky in the tournament, losing only to fellow No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara.

Outlook: It’s somewhat difficult to gauge the Bulldogs as they haven’t faced this level of competition since conference play began. But there is something to be said for sheer domination and the consistency of winning Bryant showed—the Bulldogs are the only team in the country not to have lost back-to-back games this season. Losing Albanese to a hand injury is bad timing, but there’s enough thunder in the lineup to give the Bulldogs a fair chance.

3. East Carolina (34-21-1, 15-8-1 in American Athletic)

28th appearance (second straight), at-large, second place in AAC

Top 300 Prospects: None.

Season in a Sentence: In their second year under head coach Cliff Godwin, the Pirates finished only a half-game out of first place in the AAC and earned an at-large bid for the second straight year after not going to a regional since 2012.

Player to Watch: Travis Watkins, c: A junior, Watkins provides tremendous leadership and solid catch-and-throw skills behind the plate. He’s been a consistent hitter for the Pirates this season, batting .314/.392/.424 with three home runs and 14 doubles in 210 at-bats. Not a prospect-heavy club this year, Watkins is part of the nucleus for a gritty college team.

Best Weekend: at Virginia, Feb. 26-28. The Pirates and host Cavaliers clashed in the second week of the season, and ECU came away from Charlottesville victorious, taking two of three from the defending national champions. So the Pirates know they can win at Davenport Field.

Outlook: Though the Pirates won a series at Virginia this year, that series came in February, and quite a bit has changed since then for both teams. Still, ECU is a well-coached club with strong starting pitching in Evan Kruczynski, Jacob Wolfe and Jimmy Boyd and should be competitive.

4. William & Mary (29-29, 14-9 in Colonial Athletic)

Third appearance (first since 2012), automatic qualifier, second place in Colonial Athletic

Top 300 Prospects: None.

Season in a Sentence: William & Mary went 3-7 in its last 10 games, dropping its last two series, and yet with a magical run, the Tribe managed to win the CAA Tournament and get in as the conference’s automatic qualifier.

Player to Watch: Cullen Large, 2b: Despite his last name, Large isn’t a particularly big man—6-foot, 175 pounds—but he’s been a steady producer in the middle of William & Mary’s batting order, hitting .330/.414/.515 this season with seven home runs and a team-leading 44 RBIs.

Best Weekend: CAA Tournament, May 26-29. With a No. 97 RPI, the Tribe had to win its conference tournament to make it into a regional, and William & Mary got the job done, winning four straight games and beating conference leader UNC Wilmington twice on Sunday to claim the conference tournament crown.

Outlook: William & Mary enters off a hot run in the CAA Tournament, but its resume and talent lag behind the other teams in this regional. Credit the Tribe for extending its season, but it likely won’t last beyond Charlottesville.