Head coach Brian O’Connor brought another great season to Charlottesville in 2024 during his 20th year coaching the Virginia Cavaliers. They finished 46-17 overall and were 18-12 in ACC play. They swept through both the regional and super-regional rounds, thus earning them a trip to Omaha for the College World Series. This was their third appearance in four seasons.
O’Connor and the Cavaliers look to turn the page to 2025 and bring similar success that they have shown this decade. This will begin with two fall exhibition games in October to help prepare the team for the upcoming season.
The first of the two games will be on Sunday, Oct. 20, as they will play the Maryland Terrapins at home in Disharoon Park. Maryland is coming off of a season where they finished 34-22 overall. They were a good team on the road, 19-14 away from College Park. This means it gives O’Connor and his Virginia team a decent test to begin exhibition action against a competitive team in the Big 10 from a season ago.
The next exhibition game will be a week later on Sunday, Oct. 27. Virginia will host the UNC Wilmington Seahawks in their home ballpark. They were a very good mid-major team a season ago, finishing with a 40-21 overall record, and were 20-7 in CAA play. They won the conference championship, which was their eighth and the most out of any team in the conference. They even won a game in last season’s Athens regional, beating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 9-0.
UNC Wilmington gets the opportunity to play against one of college baseball’s premier programs for an exhibition. It is a great test for Virginia, as they will have another good test to help them get ready for next season.
These two teams are big opponents that had respectable 2024 seasons. It is a great lineup in the fall for the Cavaliers that will help them be prepared for another big-time 2025 season where they will try to chase down another national championship.
______
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
Photo Credit: Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor waits while umpires discuss a challenged call. (Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
