March 3, 2003

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Ten days since its last game, the Navy baseball team is anxious to take the field Wednesday in a 4 p.m. showdown against the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va.

This will be head coach Steve Whitmyer's second trip back to UVa since taking over the Navy baseball program in the fall of 2000. Whitmyer spent the previous three seasons as an assistant under UVa head coach Dennis Womack before coming to Annapolis. UVa swept a three-game series from Navy in 2001, as the Mids' ironically opened the Whitmyer era in Charlottesville.

"With all the cancellations and bad weather we have been getting, we are hopeful that we can get the game in," Whitmyer said. "We have the chance to play a great program and university which is very exciting to us. Coach Womack is one of the most respected coaches in college baseball, and I'm really excited to get back down there and play. Virginia has a good team this year with a strong pitching staff, but we expect to play well and our guys are itching to get out on the field."

Navy (0-4) has not played since Feb. 23 when the Mids finished their game against Arkansas at the Service Academies Spring Classic in Millington, Tenn. The Mids were slated to take on Virginia Military Institute (VMI) last weekend in Virginia Beach, Va., but more bad weather along the East Coast forced a cancellation of the series. To this point in the season, Navy has had nine games cancelled on its schedule, playing just a three-game series on the road at the College of Charleston and the game against the Hogs.

Like most teams in the area, UVa (2-3) has had to reshape its early-season schedule due to inclement weather. The Cavs got back on the diamond Saturday at Radford and came away with an 11-0 shutout against the Highlanders. UVa starting pitcher Jeff Kamrath gave up six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings, before reliever Matt Avery threw the final-two innings to preserve the shutout. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman went 2-for-3 with a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored to pace the Cavs, who pounded out 14 hits against the Radford pitching staff.

UVa will travel to Richmond, Va., Monday to take on the 12th-ranked Richmond Spiders in a doubleheader before returning to Charlottesville for its home-opener Tuesday at 3 p.m. against James Madison.