Virginia Baseball Grateful to Have Earned Home-Field Advantage Again

Matt Newton | May 29, 2024

A view of the field during the Virginia baseball NCAA Tournament game against Army at Disharoon Park. / Virginia Athletics

Few stadiums provided a better home-field advantage in the NCAA Tournament last season than Disharoon Park. Virginia hosted both Regionals and Super Regionals in Charlottesville en route to its sixth trip to the College World Series and lost only one game along the way, outscoring its opponents 55-16 in a total of six games. Only Wake Forest and LSU did better from a win-loss standpoint in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

One year later, the Cavaliers find themselves in familiar and advantageous position entering the NCAA Tournament as one of only four teams in the country hosting a regional for the second-straight season.

“That puts us in rare company, so we’re very, very proud of that and excited to be playing here at home. We don’t take that for granted at all," said Virginia head coach Brian O'Connor. “There’s a lot that goes into that. Certainly, you have to perform on the field, and your team each and every year has to earn that opportunity, but you also have to have a facility and a fan base to drive that, to put in a bid that’s competitive and show the NCAA that you’re going to put together a first-class event, and that’s what we do here. Our fans come out for the games, even the games that we’re not playing in, and it’s just a great atmosphere for college baseball.”

"That was something we talked about. We're one of four teams that are hosting two years in a row, which is awesome," said junior catcher/designated hitter Ethan Anderson. "Trying to figure out what college I'm going to in high school, that's one of the reasons why you pick Virginia is you get to play in these environments."

Virginia (41-15) has played some of its best ball this year at home, turning in a record of 26-7 at Disharoon Park this season. While the Cavaliers are focused on continuing that trend with their play on the field, they acknowledge how fortunate and grateful they are to be starting this postseason at home.

"Being home is huge for sure. Being in a place that you've been the whole season, the place where you practice, just having those tiny little advantages is definitely huge," said junior shortstop Griff O'Ferrall. "There's a lot of pride playing at home, especially this time of the year. Playing in front of the Charlottesville crowd, there's definitely a lot of pride that comes into it. But we know that the teams coming here are very talented teams, so we're not trying to focus too much on the external factors. We're trying to play the game we know we can play and not try to do too much."

It's not just playing in their home ballpark and getting to sleep in their own beds that gives the Cavaliers an advantage, as the home crowds that fill Disharoon Park to the brim fuels Virginia to reach another level on the field. For the players who experienced the lively sold-out crowds at the Dish a season ago, chasing the opportunity to host a regional again served as a "driving force" for them all throughout this regular season.

"Seeing the crowd turnout last year for playoffs was kind of a driving force this whole year, honestly," O'Ferrall said. "For the guys that saw it and even the guys who weren't here yet - they saw it on TV or they came and saw some of these games - it's just a different atmosphere than the regular season for sure. The Charlottesville crowd packs this place out pretty well, especially at this time of year."

The winners bracket and regional final games against East Carolina and the Super Regional games against Duke last year were particularly memorable for the Cavaliers.

"I remember that first game against ECU, how loud it was," Anderson said. "Just being able to scream on the field and no one really heard you."

"Last year against ECU and Duke, those were some of the best crowds that I've ever seen here, so getting those fans back into the crowd is big-time for us for sure," added sophomore pitcher Evan Blanco.

Virginia is expecting a similar turnout this weekend for the 2024 Charlottesville Regional, which will see Mississippi State (38-21), St. John's (37-16-1), and Pennsylvania (24-23) join the Cavaliers for a four-team, double-elimination tournament until one team is left standing at the end of the weekend as the regional champion.

UVA opens the regional on Friday at noon (ESPN+) against Penn, while Mississippi State and St. John's will battle in the second game on Friday at 7pm. The winners of those two games will meet on Saturday at 6pm. See the full bracket for the Charlottesville Regional below:

Official bracket for the Charlottesville Regional at the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. / NCAA