On those occasions when Jacob Thompson is pitching, Virginia's baseball lineup includes as many as six players who are in their first season with the Cavaliers.

It's no wonder that UVa didn't start the year in anybody's Top 25.

While the Cavaliers (27-9, 8-7 ACC) are getting major contributions from their other freshmen, none has shined brighter than Thompson, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound right-hander from Tunstall High School.

Thompson, who starts the Saturday games in the weekend series that UVa plays against ACC opponents, has compiled a 6-1 record and a 2.64 ERA. He leads the staff in victories and innings pitched.

"Jacob has been Mr. Consistent for us all year," third-year UVa coach Brian O'Connor said. "He's given us a chance to win every game that he's started."

When Thompson took the mound last Saturday at Duke, he was backed by an infield that included second baseman David Adams, shortstop Greg Miclat and third baseman Jeremy Farrell -- all freshmen.

The catcher and right fielder, respectively, were Beau Seabury and Brandon Marsh, junior-college transfers in their first season of eligibility at Virginia.

"There were so many question marks coming into the year," O'Connor said. "You're starting three freshmen in the infield and who knows how they're going to be? You've lost two thirds of your starting rotation and then there's the matter of, 'Who's going to replace Ryan Zimmerman?'"

Zimmerman, who passed up his final season of college eligibility, was the fourth player taken in the June free-agent draft and is starting for the Washington Nationals at third base.

The 2005 UVa baseball team played in the ACC championship game but its record after 36 games (24-12) wasn't as good as it is this year. The Cavaliers had a three-game sweep of Clemson when the Tigers were ranked No. 2 and also has a victory over then-No. 1 Georgia Tech and two wins over 24th-ranked Wake Forest.

Going into tonight's home game with Longwood, three of UVa's top four hitters are newcomers Marsh (.431), Farrell (.388) and Adams (.355). Virginia's second-leading hitter is Tom Hagan, a senior from Cave Spring High School, who has had turns at first base, left field and designated hitter.

Injuries early in his career have left Hagan with the option of returning in 2007, but O'Connor said that Hagan and fourth-year junior pitcher Mike Ballard have his blessing if they want to try professional ball after this season.

There is plenty of talent in the classes behind them. Thompson is one of several promising freshman pitchers, a group that included 2005 Rangers draftee Shooter Hunt, the New Jersey player of the year.

Thompson was not drafted and was overshadowed by Tunstall teammate Will Inman, but the Cavaliers knew they wanted Thompson as soon as assistant Kevin McMullan saw him in the 2004 Commonwealth Games in Salem.

"I knew that [rival coaches] would fall in love with him and they did," said O'Connor, who signed Thompson in the fall of 2005. "We chose to go after Jacob Thompson and we didn't recruit Will Inman. Fortunately, it worked out for us. We got the kid who ended up coming to school."

Inman signed with Auburn, but was drafted by Milwaukee in the third round of the major-league draft and accepted the Brewers' offer.

"[Thompson] was one of the first guys we went after in that recruiting class," O'Conner said. "He's got really good ability, he's got a good arm but he can throw four pitches for a strike and he had really good poise for an 18-year-old. Nothing fazes him."

Thompson can't even tell you how hard he throws, although, at his size, velocity will come.

He has a personal pitching coach in his father, Floyd, an ex-George Washington High School hurler who stressed location to him.

"I talk to him every day," said Thompson, whose younger brother Justin plays catcher for Tunstall and is viewed as a future Division I prospect.

Thompson has said that he feels he is "living a dream" as a weekend starter for the Cavaliers, but he had not ruled out the possibility that he might have an impact for Virginia as a freshman. He had arm trouble as a junior at Tunstall and dealt with knee and ankle injuries as a senior, so this is the most-injury free he has been.

"I knew, going up there, that he'd have a lot of competition," Tunstall coach Barry Shelton said. "But as far as doing what he's done, I thought he'd have a shot."

The Cavaliers, unranked until four weeks ago, were 17th this week in the USA Today's coaches' poll, 19th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association poll, 20th in the Collegiate Baseball poll, and are in position for an unprecedented third straight NCAA bid.

"The whole goal is to get to the NCAA tournament," O'Conner said. "But, as a program, you'd like to reach the point where people are thinking about you from the start."