Yes virginia....

There is a World Series! Cavs with a young squad (7 underclassmen starters) make history punching their first ticket to Omaha. Let's review this amazing run: Cavs as a 6 seed win 4 ACC tourney games in 4 days to capture the crown. Along the way they crush the #2 pitching prospect in the land from UNC Alex White,tagging him for 8 runs. Cavs beat Clemson and FSU (title game) as well. UVA is "rewarded" by being forced out West to the Irvine,CA regional where all they do is beat the top MLB prospect 13-0 phenom hurler SDSU's Steven Strasburg 5-1,and then proceed to thump top seeded UC Irvine twice to win the region. How are the Cavs rewarded NOW? They are forced to travel to Oxford,Miss to face the SEC co-champ Ole Miss. In game 1 the Cavs squander a 3-1 lead and lose a crushing heartbreaker on a walkoff HR in the 12th. In game 2 with the season on the line,the Cavs rally after being down to just 5 outs to win 4-3. Today down again in the 4th the Cavs tie,and proceed to put on a base-swiping clinic (6 SBs) to overwhelm Ole Miss and win the super-regional 5-1. Poor Miss is denied yet again,and I feel for them,but am jubilant and proud of the CAVS. WAHOO!




OMAHA BOUND! Cavaliers Win First Super Regional
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 06/07/2009







PDF Box Score



Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com

Virginia earned its first trip to the College World Series Sunday with a 5-1 victory over Ole Miss.

OXFORD, Miss. – The Virginia baseball team captured its first berth in the College World Series after earning a 5-1 win over Ole Miss Sunday in front of 10,110 spectators at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field in the NCAA Oxford Super Regional. After dropping the first game of the super regional, Virginia rallied to take the final two games and win the series.

The Cavaliers will take on LSU next weekend at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. The brackets for the CWS will be announced Monday evening following the conclusion of the super regionals.

Virginia broke a school record with its 48th victory. That tops the 2006 team’s total of 47.

Virginia’s pitching staff pulled together and scattered seven hits and just a first-inning run. Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) worked 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn the win and improve to 9-3 this year. He gave up two hits and a walk while fanning three. Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) pitched two scoreless innings and allowed a pair of hits while striking out one. Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) pitched the ninth to finish off the championship.

Robert Poutier (Sr., Yorktown, Va.) started for Virginia and tossed 2.2 innings, giving up one earned run, two hits and two walks while striking out four.

Rebels’ starter Nathan Baker (4-3) pitched five innings, surrendering four runs (two earned), five hits and one walk. He struck out six.

Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) had three hits for the Cavaliers, while Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) and John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) each added a pair.

Ole Miss (44-20) scored a run in the first inning. Jordan Henry led off with a double to right-center and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Power. After Poutier struck out Matt Snyder, Matt Smith lined a single to right to plate Henry.

The Cavaliers (48-13-1) knotted the score in the fourth inning while taking advantage of their speed. With one out, Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) singled up the middle. After numerous tosses to first, Gosselin swiped second without a throw. Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) then walked and the two combined for a double steal. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Gosselin.

Virginia posted three runs in the fifth inning to take the lead. Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) ripped a single to left to open the inning, then stole second. Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) hit a 1-2 Baker offering up the middle for a single to score Proscia. John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) then hit a chopper which shortstop Kevin Mort booted, allowing Valdes to move to third. One out later, Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) hit a sacrifice fly to right to bring home Valdes. Gosselin then slapped a single to right to score Barr from second and push the UVa lead to 4-1.

The Cavaliers added an insurance run in the eighth inning off Ole Miss closer Jake Morgan. Hicks led off with a double to left-center, and Hultzen followed with a single to left to move Hicks to third. Proscia then drilled a double into the left-field corner to score Hicks, with Hultzen stopping at third.

For Cavalier fans interested in following the UVa Baseball team to Omaha for the College World Series, UVa Athletics and the Virginia Athletics Foundation have partnered with Premiere Global Sports – College Division to assist you with booking your travel. Please call them toll free at 1-800-553-5527 for assistance in booking commercial air or hotel reservations. Offices will be open at 8 a.m. on Monday.





Roundup: Virginia heads to CWS for first time in school history
June 7, 2009
CBSSports.com wire reports




OXFORD, Miss. -- Virginia coach Brian O'Connor is headed home, and this time he's taking the Cavaliers along.

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O'Connor grew up watching College World Series games by his father's side and appeared there as a player and assistant coach. Now he's finally going as a head coach after leading the gutty Cavaliers to a 5-1 win over Mississippi on Sunday in Game 3 of their nail-biting super regional.

• NCAA.com: Bracket

O'Connor played at Rosenblatt Stadium with Creighton and was an assistant coach at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish went to Omaha in 2002 under Paul Mainieri, now the coach at LSU -- and Virginia's opening opponent next weekend.

The Cavaliers got to the College World Series with pitching and defense in a series that was tight and tense.

Matt Packer, in his third appearance of the series, and three others combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed just seven hits as the Cavaliers (48-13-1) set the school record for wins in a season. Virginia improved to 5-1 since the start of the NCAA tournament, allowing just nine earned runs.

The Cavaliers' ERA against Ole Miss was 2.33 and is now 1.50 overall since they won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last month. They gave up just 23 hits against the Rebels, who had a .219 batting average in the series, and struck out 26 on the way to setting a school record (567) for strikeouts in a season. Full story

I was there in Durham for their ACC Tourney run, hoping the Canes could do something (they didn't, went 1-2 and looked bad doing it).

When they didn't, I started kinda pulling for UVA b/c I did not want to see UNC or F$U win it for sure. Also, there were some cats from Waynesboro that were there, hung out with us in the same parking lot we tailgated in over from the stadium. Nice people, shared their booze--had some Dreamsicle drinks that were rather tasty (and strong). So, when my beloved Canes went down, I was and still am pulling for the Hoos to do as well as they can with that young of a team b/c it's really amazing.

In other news--F$U and the Gaytors both go 2 & done in the super regional against Arkansas & Southern Miss respectively. That, combined with UVA making the CWS, does my heart a lot of good even though the Canes' season is done.

Looks like LSU folks are aware that Virginia is the team that you don't want to draw:


LSU Won't Have It Easy Against Virginia OnSaturday. - And The Valley Shook

Way I see it, if Fresno State did it last year...anybody can. That includes UVA or Southern Miss or whoever else is playing well at the right time.

What gives UVA a shot is their pitching. They've been at around a 2.00 ERA clip since post-season started. The Cavs are he hottest team in the nation right now,and the best news of all is their youth. If they don't win it all,this will be great experience to return next year.

LSU is the real deal tho, UVA hopefully will come ready to play and play well,if they dont they wont win, LSU is really talented.

imo itll come down to who can hit the ball.
the best pitcher didnt make it out of the first round, so to me itll be who can hit the ball the best will win

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Biggin

LSU is the real deal tho, UVA hopefully will come ready to play and play well,if they dont they wont win, LSU is really talented.

imo itll come down to who can hit the ball.
the best pitcher didnt make it out of the first round, so to me itll be who can hit the ball the best will win

---

LSU is always rugged,and as usual they hit the daylights out of the ball,but they have troubles with lefties,and UVA has a doozy in this feller:

Hultzen Tabbed NCBWA Freshman All-American
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 06/08/2009


Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com

Danny Hultzen

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ? Virginia?s Danny Hultzen (Bethesda, Md.) was one of 37 standout freshman college baseball players featured on the annual Pro-Line Athletic National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman All-American Team, the organization announced Monday.

Hultzen has been a two-way standout for the Cavaliers this season. The first ACC Freshman of the Year in UVa baseball history, Hultzen has seen time at pitcher, first base, left field and designated hitter this year. On the mound, he has a 9-1 record with a 2.09 ERA in 16 games (15 starts). In 86.0 innings, Hultzen has 95 strikeouts, which is a Virginia freshman record.

At the plate, Hultzen has a .333 batting average ? tops among ACC freshmen. He also has three home runs and 33 runs batted in. Hultzen was named to the Irvine All-Regional Team (pitcher) as well as the ACC All-Tournament Team (Utility/DH) this year.

The 2009 NCBWA National Freshman Player of the Year and National Freshman Pitcher of the Year will be announced on Tuesday, June 9.

Virginia continues its postseason run this weekend against LSU in its first College World Series appearance. Game times will be announced later this evening.


Some good reads on the World Series at this site:

Baseball - News - University of Virginia Cavaliers Official Athletic Site - VirginiaSports.com

I loved watching Gorilla Ball under Skip Bertman in the 90s.

I went into this thinking "Even if it's 2 and done,for a young squad this is a learning experience",but today the Cavs showed again the resiliency that they've shown all year by upsetting and eliminating 4-time National Champion and #2 ranked Cal State-Fullerton 7-5 today. History is made for the Cavs.


OMAHA, Neb. – Virginia recorded its first-ever win in the College World Series with a 7-5 victory over No. 2 national seed Cal State Fullerton Monday afternoon in front of 17,589 at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Cavaliers advance to face the loser of the Arkansas-LSU game, while Cal State Fullerton is eliminated.



Virginia (49-14-1) avenged a 2008 loss to Cal State Fullerton in which the Titans ended the Cavaliers’ season in the NCAA Fullerton Regional. UVa built on its record season with its school-record 49th win of the year. Three of those wins have come in the NCAA tournament over national seeds (two vs. No. 6 UC Irvine).



Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) earned the win for Virginia with 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. Carraway (9-1) notched his 20th career victory – tied for sixth most in Virginia history. Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.), Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) and Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) combined to pitch the last 2.1 innings to finish off the win.



Virginia starting pitcher Robert Morey (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) worked four innings, giving up three earned runs, four hits and two walks with one strikeout. Cal State Fullerton All-America starting pitcher Daniel Renken (11-3) suffered the loss after giving up a career-high six earned runs, six hits and three walks while fanning five.



At the plate, UVa second baseman Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) continued his fantastic CWS with a 2-for-4 day, including two runs scored and two RBI. Werman is now 6-for-9 with three RBI in the CWS. Seven more Cavaliers recorded a hit, with Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) posting a two-run single in the second inning to give UVa a lead it would not relinquish.



While the Cavaliers led for the majority of the day, it was Fullerton (47-16) which jumped ahead early. The Titans took the lead in the second inning on a two-run home run into the left-field bleachers by Dustin Garneau.



Virginia responded with four runs in its half of the second while batting around. With one out, Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) lined a double into the left-field corner. After Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) walked, John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) singled to left to plate Proscia. One out later, Werman singled to center to bring home Parker and tie the game. Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) then walked to load the bases, and Hultzen slapped a single to left-center to plate Hicks and Werman to give UVa a 4-2 lead.



The Titans got a leadoff home run from Christian Colon in the third inning to cut the lead to 4-3. Fullerton then put runners at first and third with none out, but Morey battled back to get Jared Clark to foul out and Khris Davis to pop out before Josh Fellhauer was caught stealing to end the inning.



UVa took advantage of a leadoff walk to tack on a run in the fifth inning. Cannon drew the leadoff walk, moved to second on a Hultzen sacrifice and scored when Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) cranked a double to left-center.



The Cavaliers used a two-out rally to add a pair of runs in the sixth inning while knocking Renken from the game. Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) doubled on an 0-2 pitch, and Renken was replaced with left-hander Nick Ramirez. Werman again came up big with an RBI double to center field, and Cannon ripped the next pitch to right-center to plate Werman and give UVa a 7-3 advantage.



The Titans made things interesting in the ninth inning against Arico, getting RBI singles from Gary Brown and Clark. They had the go-ahead run at the plate with two out before Davis grounded to Cannon for a fielder’s choice to finish things.

What a terrible loss for Southern Miss the other night. That was tough to watch.