UVa stays alive in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. — Facing yet another team’s ace in the postseason, the odds were stacked against Virginia.

Daniel Renken, an All-American pitcher at Cal State Fullerton, had not lost since April Fool’s Day.

This time, however, the joke was on Fullerton.

The fifth-ranked Cavaliers’ offense provided timely hits, propelling Virginia to a 7-5 victory over the Titans and allowing UVa to survive an elimination game and extend its stay at the College World Series.

“I am very, very proud of our club,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “This team has shown me time and time again to be a very resilient group. Every time all year we have bounced back from defeat.

“I don’t know that there is anything better that you can have said about yourself.”

Par for the course, Virginia (49-14-1) was forced to rally for the win over Fullerton.

Trailing 2-0 in the second inning following a two-run homer by Fullerton catcher Dustin Garneau, the Cavaliers rebounded to even the score with RBI singles from John Hicks and Keith Werman.

With the bases still loaded with Cavaliers, first baseman Danny Hultzen gave Virginia a lead it would not relinquish with a two-run single into left-center field.

It was rather fitting as Hultzen was victimized in Virginia’s opening game in the CWS, recording his shortest start on the mound this season as LSU steamrolled to a 9-5 win.

“After not pitching my best on Saturday, it felt good to help the team out with the bat,” Hultzen said.

In all, Virginia finished the frame with four hits.

“[Hultzen’s] hit was a big hit,” O’Connor said. “To put up four runs on an All-American pitcher like Renken is a great inning for us.

“Believe me, I wanted more. But that was huge.”

Fullerton answered in the third inning as Christian Colon pelted an offering from Virginia starter Robert Morey into the bleacher seats in left field for a solo homer.

The inning appeared even worse for Morey moments later before the first out of the game after the Titans managed to get runners on the corners.

Despite having Andrew Carraway prepped in the bullpen, O’Connor elected to stay with Morey.

It paid off.

Morey managed to get pop outs from Jared Clark and Khris Davis before escaping the jam when Virginia catcher Franco Valdes helped catch Josh Fellhauer on an expected double steal that went awry when the lead runner failed to leave the bag on the throw to second.

“We got 13 hits and five runs, that’s not very good offense for us,” said Fullerton coach Dave Serrano. “We got good at-bats when it didn’t matter and bad at-bats when it did matter.”

Luckily for Virginia, the offense continued to contribute against Fullerton (47-16), the team that eliminated the Cavaliers from the postseason in 2008.

In fact, the Cavaliers scored a lone run in the fifth after Tyler Cannon walked and later scored from second on a double by left fielder Phil Gosselin.

Virginia also scored a pair in the sixth, chasing Renken (11-3) from the contest after he allowed six hits and six earned runs. The key run-producing hits in the frame came on a double by Werman and a single by Cannon off reliever Nick Ramirez.

“You are not going to win many College World Series games scoring four runs,” O’Connor said. “The fact that we were able to build on that in the ninth inning became pretty important.

“Fullerton has a great club and they continued to battle.”

That was certainly the case.

With Virginia closer Kevin Arico in, the Titans used three hits and one Cavalier error to trim the lead to a pair of runs.

“My heart was beating a little harder but I still had the confidence that we were going to finish it off,” said Hultzen. “It was kind of a rough inning but we still have the confidence in our defense and in Arico that he is going to pitch it out.”

After a visit from O’Connor, Arico did just forcing Davis into a routine grounder to Cannon at shortstop that turned into a fielder’s choice.

“It was not as easy as I would have liked, but Kevin did the job,” O’Connor said.

Carraway, who pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, entered in the fifth inning and earned the win on the mound. The senior scattered four hits and two walks, improving to 9-1.

Matt Packer, who retired the lone batter he faced in the seventh on one pitch, and Tyler Wilson also worked for the Cavaliers.

“It took a lot. We had to mix the pitching together,” O’Connor said. “I came into this game saying, ‘whatever it takes to get to Wednesday we will worry about on Wednesday.’

“It is a similar approach that we took to Game 2 at Ole Miss. We pitched everybody we had in Game 2 and we figured out the next game and that’s what we are going to do on Wednesday. It took a lot of really good individual performances.”

Virginia awaits the loser of Monday’s late game between LSU and Arkansas. That elimination game will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m.

O’Connor said he would determine a starting pitcher today after analyzing the pitch counts from the first two games.

Fullerton (47-16), which left nine runners on base, was the first team eliminated from the CWS.