The excitement that surrounds a slate that includes 39 home games and 14 opponents that won at least 30 games was not the buzz around the program.

Rookie catcher John Hicks capped off a solid night offensively with a game-winning double in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night to lift the Blue team to a 6-5 win over the Orange squad in the opening contest of Virginia’s annual Orange & Blue World Series.

With his family watching from the bleachers, John Bivens strolled up to the batter’s box with his adrenaline racing.

On Tuesday, Virginia’s baseball coach, 20 veteran players and 11 new faces took the first step at ensuring a magical run of NCAA Tournament appearances rolls on.

In five of the past seven years, Virginia’s baseball program included a Werman.

Tunji Soroye will return for a fifth season

Few players, if any ever, have been able to officially report to a Major League team with a drive shorter than the one Jacob Thompson will make.

Taken with the 142nd pick overall, Miclat is expected to ink a deal with a signing bonus of $225,000, which will be the largest bonus received thus far by a fifth-round pick. He said he plans to leave Sunday to report to the Orioles’ Gulf Coast League team in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In June, the Atlanta Braves selected Thompson in the fifth round, much lower than expected, with the 160th pick overall. For now, Virginia’s all-time wins leader is waiting on a suitable offer from the organization to forgo his final year of eligibility as a Cavalier.

The Dallas Morning News reported on its Web site that former Virginia pitcher Michael Ballard will make his MLB debut tonight for the Texas Rangers against the Los Angeles Angels.

Virginia pitcher Pat McAnaney agreed to terms with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

As expected, Virginia first baseman Jeremy Farrell agreed to terms with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A relative unknown in baseball recruiting circles, Peter Hissey was fascinated when Virginia offered a scholarship last year.

As of Tuesday, the four Virginia baseball players with a year of eligibility remaining are at opposite ends of the post-MLB draft spectrum.

David Adams is officially a former college baseball player. On Monday, the UVa second baseman inked a professional contract with the New York Yankees.

Virginia’s first baseman was not alone — senior left-hander Pat McAnaney, senior reliever Michael Schwimer and six players in the program’s recruiting class were selected during the two-day draft’s final 44 rounds. St. Anne’s-Belfield pitcher/first baseman Kyle Long went to the Chicago White Sox in the 23rd round. Based on where he was selected, Long is expected to honor his commitment to play for Florida State and will be eligible for the draft again after his sophomore season based on his age.

The area scout from the New York Yankees told former Virginia second baseman David Adams that the organization had just used their third round pick, the No. 106 overall selection, to secure his services.

Players associated with Virginia’s baseball program, and at least one local prep standout, will likely run the gauntlet, covering all the scenarios during the draft process that kicks off today at 2 p.m. (ESPN2) and concludes Friday in rapid-fire style during the final 45 rounds.

Given the enormity of games played in baseball, picking a season-defining moment is near impossible.

Thanks to an odd interference call on a slide made by Greg Miclat into second base in the sixth inning by umpire Marc Lewis that eliminated a run and potential rally for the Cavaliers, Cal State Fullerton cruised to a 4-1 win at Goodwin Field.

Virginia pitcher Andrew Carraway and his knee-buckling slider proved otherwise — the junior escaped the seventh and the Cavaliers used an offensive explosion fueled by their rookies to register an 8-2 victory at Goodwin Field.

A would-be heartwarming classic turned into a horror flick with one simple throw.

Today, O’Connor returns to the field officially as Virginia (38-21) opens play in the Fullerton regional against second-seeded UCLA (31-25) at 7 p.m. The winner of the contest will meet the Fullerton-Rider winner on Saturday at 11 p.m., and the two opening day losers will meet at 7 p.m. in an elimination game.

Jacob Thompson will start for Virginia against UCLA Friday night.

Schimwer’s confidence prior to the potential showdown does not place him in the over-the-top John Rocker mold. In fact, Schwimer and Crawford are close friends.

Playing a complete game seemed impossible for most of the season. When the offense clicked, primetime pitching performances were unobtainable. Tossing gems on the mound turned into heartbreaking losses as poor offensive execution and defensive woes proved costly.

UVa will open play Friday at 7 p.m. against second-seeded UCLA (31-25), and Cal State Fullerton (37-19), the regional’s top seed and the No. 5 national seed, will host Rider (29-26) at 11 p.m.

The Cavaliers (38-21) learned today that they had been awarded an at-large bid as the third seed in the Fullerton regional. Virginia will open play Friday at 7 p.m. against second-seeded UCLA (31-25) at Goodwin Field in a regional that also features host Cal State Fullerton (35-17) and fourth-seeded Rider (29-26).

They were 23 of the longest minutes in Pat McAnaney’s life.

Virginia clearly had its thoughts set on today’s ACC title game with top-seeded Miami during a 7-4 loss to Wake Forest in the final game of pool play at the ACC baseball tournament.