Cavaliers overcame tough path to win regional

IRVINE, Calif. — A Virginia baseball t-shirt created last week relayed the message louder and clearer than any action taken on the diamond over the weekend at Anteater Ballpark.

The six simple words scripted on the back read: “Any Time, Any Place, Any Where.”

That mantra became the calling card for one of the hottest programs in the nation during a regional at UC Irvine that was feared by all four teams upon arrival.

Virginia, the ACC tournament champion, faced the toughest path to perfection.

It started with a date with the most dominant pitcher in college baseball, San Diego State’s Stephen Strasburg. Yet Virginia responded with a win.

Mired in what proved to be a head-to-head battle with the top-ranked team in the country, host UC Irvine, the Cavaliers responded — and responded again.

In near flawless fashion, Virginia (46-12-1) escaped the Irvine Regional, giving coach Brian O’Connor’s program its first-ever Super Regional berth.

“We pitched great all weekend, played great defense and got enough timely hitting to win the thing,” O’Connor said. “I felt coming out here with the type of teams that were in the regional, the type of ballpark we were playing in, I felt like it would be a pitching and defense regional and that works pretty well for us."

Virginia had little time to celebrate its victory, leaving Los Angeles early Monday morning without its next opponent determined. The Cavaliers, who have won eight straight games, draw Ole Miss in the Super Regional round.

“I don’t think it matters at this point where or who we play,” Virginia catcher Franco Valdes said. “If we continue to play good baseball, we can compete with anybody in the country.”

That was certainly the case Sunday during the 4-1 victory that moved Virginia within two wins of advancing to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

At the same time, however, O’Connor appeared to have the pulse of his team throughout, whether the decisions involved the left fielder employed, the move to start defensive-minded second baseman Keith Werman or the use of the pitching staff.

During one pivotal spot in particular in the championship game, the skipper strolled to the mound in the seventh inning merely to gauge the mindset of starting pitcher Andrew Carraway.

Throughout the season, O’Connor did not make house calls to the mound.

But in the past, O’Connor had second-guessed himself for pulling the senior and watching the contest implode in the bullpen.

“I went out there, I had a left-hander (Matt Packer) in the bullpen that was ready, and I just had a feeling about Andrew all night that he was not going to be denied,” he said. “I went out there and asked him how he felt and he said he felt great. I said, ‘Do you want this guy?,’ and he said, ‘Absolutely.’

“He said, ‘Coach, I will get it done.’ Fortunately, he got him out and it gave us a big momentum shift.”

Carraway earned the win, following in the footsteps of sophomore Robert Morey and rookie Danny Hultzen over the first two days of the regional.

Winning the regional itself served as vindication for the Cavaliers, a team that had every reason to feel slighted after being snubbed for a No. 1 seed after finishing with the sixth-best RPI in the country.

“At first it was a bit of a surprise to us and it was a shock, but after that we were excited to come out here and prove what a team that was ‘too young’ could achieve,” said Valdes, the regional’s MVP. “We just came out here and did what we have done all season and played 27 outs, from the first pitch to the last pitch, and we came out with a victory.”

Should Virginia advance to Omaha, the Cavaliers would do so with a program-best win total. In 2006, Virginia won 47 games before stumbling in the Charlottesville Regional against South Carolina and Evansville.

With their stellar play at Irvine, the Cavaliers landed one supporter that all but expects the program to advance another round.

“I think this Virginia team is well-prepared to play wherever,” UC Irvine coach Mike Gillespie said. “I think that they will be very, very prepared, and who can predict how things will go but it is going to take a brilliant team to beat them even if they are on the road.

“Hats off to Virginia, who is a very, very good team who played really, really, really well.”