At least they have lacrosse
A Virginia fan recently told me that he thought other Cav fans were starting to get behind the idea that UVa. was a baseball school.
They certainly aren't a football school. Other than that brief flirtation with a No. 1 ranking in 1990, it's mostly been about high expectations (at least since Al Groh arrived) and disappointing endings.
As for basketball, well, Ralph Sampson has been gone from Charlottesville a long time.
The fan I spoke to figured Virginia fans were realizing that it might never happen in the two big sports, and while it's nice to be the national champion in lacrosse, perhaps baseball is where Virginia fans should place their passion.
Not so fast.
It's much too early to start a FireBrianOConnor.com Web site. In fact, Virginia baseball was barely a varsity sport before O'Connor arrived three years ago. O'Connor has put the Cavalier baseball program on the national map, with the program hosting two NCAA regionals in three years, and qualifying for the NCAA tournament in each of the coach's first three seasons in Charlottesville.
But there's a trend starting to develop that Virginia fans may want to watch closely. Postseason hasn't been friendly to this team. In the past three years Virginia is 3-6 in the NCAA tournament and hasn't gotten out of a regional yet. In the ACC tournament the Cavaliers are 4-5, and that includes a run to the championship game last season. Virginia lost that game to Georgia Tech.
Now, it's tough to blame O'Connor for the losses this weekend that sent the Cavaliers packing. If blame has to fall somewhere, it's probably the much ballyhooed pitching staff.
ACC player of the year Sean Doolittle gave up five hits and six earned runs against South Carolina Saturday night. Evansville chased Jacob Thompson, with his 10 wins this season, after two innings Sunday. Even in Virginia's one win this weekend, Mike Ballard gave up five earned runs and seven hits to Lehigh Friday afternoon.
There's still plenty of promise for this young team. And expectations should be high next year. This weekend's setback won't take away from that.
I'm just saying ... temper the talk of College World Series appearances and national titles for now. At least make it out of a regional first.
- Patrick Hite