The University of Virginia baseball team will host Kansas State in an NCAA Super Regional beginning Friday. And if the Cavaliers reach a second straight College World Series, a few former Hampton Roads stars will likely have a hand in it.
Ethan Anderson, a former standout at Cox High in Virginia Beach, and Harrison Didawick, who starred at Western Branch High in Chesapeake, are two of three UVA players who have started all 58 games this season. Star shortstop Griff O’Ferrell is the other.
UVA (41-15) and Kansas State (35-24) — led by former Virginia Tech coach Pete Hughes — will open the best-of-three series at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner earns a spot in the CWS in Omaha, Nebraska.
Didawick, a sophomore outfielder, has paced the Cavaliers’ most prolific home run surge in program history. He is batting .303 with a team-high 23 home runs and team-leading 67 RBIs. His 23 homers are tied atop UVA’s single-season list with Jake Gelof, who hit 23 long balls last season. The Cavaliers have hit 113 home runs this season.
Anderson had reached base in 28 straight games heading into the NCAA regional, and he’s batting .330 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs.
Luke Hanson, a sophomore out of Lafayette High in Williamsburg, is batting .294 with seven homers and 32 RBIs and has started 35 games in 49 appearances. Hanson had two RBIs in the regional-clinching victory over Mississippi State.
UVA has played in the CWS six times, including last season. The Cavaliers won the national title in 2015, a year after finishing as the runner-up.
Charlottesville Super Regional
Kansas State at UVA
Game 1: Friday, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 2: Saturday, 3 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 3 p.m. (ESPNU)
