Cavaliers complete regional in perfect fashion
(Photo courtesy Ian Rogol, TheSabre.com)
UVa players celebrate following their regional championship.
IRVINE, Calif. - Apparently, dogpiles are going out of style.
Perhaps expectations outweighed the reality.
Regardless of the mild celebration that unfolded at Anteater Park, second-seeded Virginia made program history Sunday night with a regional-clinching 4-1 victory over UC Irvine.
With the win, Virginia completed the Irvine Regional in perfect fashion and improved to 46-12-1 overall. The Cavaliers await today’s winner in the championship game of the Oxford Regional between host Ole Miss and Western Kentucky.
Should Western Kentucky pull off the upset on the road, the Cavaliers should host a Super Regional starting Friday or Saturday. If not, UVa will travel to Oxford, Miss.
“That is a huge step for our program,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “We came out here to what people were saying was the toughest regional in the field and we played spectacular baseball all weekend.
“I am so proud of our team for what they have accomplished up to this point. I just felt like this weekend that we played as good as we could play.”
O’Connor liked his chances of beating Irvine entering the contest after the Anteaters (44-15) were relegated to the loser’s bracket and forced to throw their No. 3 starter in an elimination game against San Diego State following their 5-1 setback to Virginia on Saturday.
That was compounded by the fact that Virginia had senior Andrew Carraway fresh to start.
Carraway rose to the occasion.
The right-handed Georgia native mystified the Anteaters for seven full innings, scattering four hits and a walk while fanning three batters.
Virginia’s offense eventually spotted Carraway a run. In the top half of the fourth, left fielder John Hicks drew a two-out walk and scored on a double by Franco Valdes.
Irvine, the top-ranked team in the country, answered with its lone run off Carraway in the fourth on a two-out single from Jeff Cusick.
The game remained tied until the sixth, when Virginia plated a run. Valdes, the regional’s MVP, drove in Danny Hultzen from second with his first triple of the season. The hit bounced over the bag at first and rolled into the right-field corner.
“I can promise you that I did not play Franco for his speed,” O’Connor joked.
Virginia clung to the one-run lead until the top-half of the ninth when the Cavaliers added a pair of runs on back-to-back triples from Jarrett Parker and Tyler Cannon.
“Those were key insurance runs against a quality team like UC Irvine,” O’Connor said.
That gave breathing room for Virginia closer Kevin Arico, who entered for Carraway in the eighth. Arico, who struck out two batters, did not allow a baserunner and recorded his 11th save of the season.
Virginia finished with 10 hits in the contest and stranded 10 runners on base.
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Reader Reactions
Congrats to the Cavs. It was enjoyable to watch such a well-coached and talented group of young men perform at such a high level and accomplish this goal. If they continue to play at this level, they will be a very tough team to stop throughout the rest of the tournament. What can you say about the job Coach O’Conner and his staff have done? They have proven that they are one of the best staffs in the country.
I agree with everyone’s comment so far. It was worth staying up to almost 3 in the morning to watch this final victory. The amazing thing that this coaching staff has done is assemble a group that has fun and does not let any adversity bother them. It also amazing the number of players who could have signed lucrative pro contracts but decided to attend UVA instead. This must mean a lot to the coaches who have assembled this great bunch of players. Maybe some of the other coaches at UVA should take lessons from O’Connor about how to recruit players who stay out of trouble and academic problems and want to have fun. Whatever it takes, the administration should make sure that this coaching staff is compensated so that they will go into retirement as Wahoo. Good luck this weekend, but I do not believe that this team needs luck because they believe in themselves and enjoy playing the game
That win last night did my heart good. When you can sweep a region loaded with top notch teams, you’ve accomplished something. Revenge is sweet. I’m speaking of the NCAA honcho that sent them out there in the first place. Keep rolling Cavs!!
O’Connor is being rewarded by his team’s performance this time around. That’s seven straight on the road against the country’s best. I’ll bet John Grisham would love to see Ol’ Miss vs. UVA in Oxford.
Karma pulls through for being shipped out to the West Coast. My guess is these guys could care less where they play next because they believe they will win regardless. Please for god’s sake let’s make sure that O’Connor is being compensated based on his performance. What this guy has done for Virginia baseball and sports is nothing short of amazing.
Man it’s good to see a team exceed expectations at Virginia.
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