2013 Charlottesville Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Zachary Kerr)

1. Virginia Cavaliers

Charlottesville, Virginia

At-large bid from ACC

2013 record: 22-8, 47-10 (second in Coastal Division)

Head coach: Brian O’Connor (Creighton, 1993)

Record at school: 458-159-2, 10 years

Overall record: Same

Assistant coaches: Kevin McMullan, Karl Kuhn, Matt Kirby

Team offense: .314 BA, 463 R, 41 HR, .469 SLG%, .412 OBP%, 61-83 SB

Team pitching: 3.14 ERA, 512.2 IP, 478 H, 135 BB, 456 K

Top hitters: Mike Papi (.400/6/54/.536 OBP), Branden Cogswell (.346/0/22/12-17 SB), Derek Fisher (.315/7/44/8-11 SB), Joe McCarthy (.329/4/49/10-11 SB), Brandon Downes (.318/9/57/134 TB)

Top pitchers: Scott Silverstein (9-1, 3.07 ERA, 82 IP, 80 H, 23 BB, 63 K), Josh Sborz (3-0, 2 SV, 1.91 ERA, 47 IP, 34 H, 11 BB, 44 K), Whit Mayberry (4-0, 2 SV, 2.05 ERA, 48.1 IP, 39 H, 8 BB, 34 K), Kyle Crockett (4-1, 10 SV, 1.81 ERA, 49.2 IP, 35 H, 6 BB, 61 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2012 (1-2 at Charlottesville Regional)

Notes: Virginia is in a regional for the 10th straight year and hosting for the fourth straight year, extending the longest such streaks in school history. Head coach Brian O’Connor pitched on the 1991 College World Series team at Creighton and has led the Cavaliers to Omaha in 2009 and 2011. He was named 2013 ACC Coach of the Year. The Cavaliers tied their school record of 45 regular-season wins, set in the 2006 season and matched in 2011. Virginia had the most players on the 2013 All-ACC Team with six, including outfielder Mike Papi, who led the nation with a .546 regular-season on-base percentage. Wahoo pitchers allowed the fewest walks in the ACC this year, 128, and the fifth-fewest per nine innings nationally, 2.39. ACC Freshman of the Year Joe McCarthy reached base in his first 36 games, the longest ACC streak this season.

2. UNC Wilmington Seahawks

Notes: The Seahawks finished atop the CAA standings for the second consecutive season and extended their streak as the only team to play in every CAA Tournament to 28. Yet they failed to win a game in the conference tournament, losing to fourth-seed Towson and fifth-seed Northeastern. On the other hand, UNCW was responsible for UNC-Chapel Hill's only non-conference loss this season, a 9-8 triumph at Chapel Hill. Redshirt junior pitcher Mat Batts missed many bats this year, as he led the CAA with 106 strikeouts, the sixth-highest single-season total in UNCW history, and was named CAA Pitcher of the Year. He ended the regular season on a nine-start streak in which he had struck out seven or more, including 11 in his final regular-season start, which was at Hofstra on May 17. Head coach Mark Scalf is the all-time winningest coach in conference play with a 298-194-1 mark. He was named CAA Co-Coach of the Year with William and Mary's Jamie Pinzino. Senior second baseman Michael Bass, junior third baseman Ryan LeGrange, and junior relief pitcher Kelly Secrest joined Batts on the All-CAA first team.

3. Elon Phoenix

Notes: Elon won the Southern Conference Championship as the three seed, taking the hard road after an opening 10-1 loss to the six seed, Furman. The Phoenix then blew out two-seed College of Charleston, Furman, and seven-seed Georgia Southern. In what became the second game of a doubleheader with Georgia Southern, Elon rallied for a one-run victory before beating four-seed The Citadel by the same margin in the championship game the next day. No other team from the conference made the NCAA Tournament. Junior first baseman Ryan Kinsella was voted the Southern Conference Player of the Year by the coaches of the conference. His 20 homers and 75 RBI are each second in the country this season. Senior starting pitcher Kyle Webb and junior outfielder Sebastian Gomez also made the All-Southern Conference squads, albeit on the second team. Elon lost to its first regional opponent, UNC Wilmington, twice in the regular season: 7-3 at Wilmington and 8-5 at Elon.

4. Army Black Knights

Notes: The Black Knights return to the NCAA field for the second straight year and fifth time in 10 years. Army began the season as a young, inexperienced group but got better and better as the year went on. Coach Joe Sottolano posted a 21-9 record as a pitcher at Ithaca College – he was named the 1988 Most Outstanding Player in the D-III World Series and led the Bombers to a national title. Ace right-hander Chris Rowley is one of three seniors on the team and has gone 20-4 the past two seasons. He’s tossed six complete games this season. Sophomore Alex Robinett has turned into a solid second starter, allowing opponents a .239 average and hurling three complete games. Jon Crucitti leads the Black Knights with a .440 on-base average and 16 stolen bases. Alex Jensen has 20 HBP and is one of six Army players to total 10 or more steals – the Black Knights have stolen 90 bases and been caught 18 times.