UVa draws San Diego State, Strasburg in opening round

A collection of Virginia baseball fans lined the entrance to the parking lot at Davenport Field late Sunday evening.
Those in attendance gathered to celebrate the second ACC tournament title in program history.
The party balloons were popped Monday — Virginia was rewarded for winning the league crown by shockingly being shipped to California for the second straight year.
Slotted as the No. 2 seed, Virginia (43-12-1) was placed in the Irvine Regional, which is hosted by top-seeded UC Irvine (43-13), the No. 1 team in the country in numerous polls.
As imposing as the challenge of facing the No. 6 national seed appears, the Cavaliers’ opening game was one that 63 teams in the field feared.
Virginia drew a first-round showdown with third-seed San Diego State (40-21) and faces millionaire-to-be Stephen Strasburg, the nation’s top pitcher. The teams will square off Friday at 7 p.m.
“This team is ready for anything,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “That is part of the reason that I want to get out there [today] a day early. They will be ready to go.
“They know the challenge that they have in front of them.”
It took little time for national pundits to bash the selection committee for creating the toughest regional in the 64-team field.
“Virginia got royally screwed. You can quote me on that,” said Aaron Fitt, the lead college
baseball writer for Baseball America. “It is unbelievable, frankly, on multiple levels.
“First of all, this is a team that won the ACC tournament. They won a total of 20 ACC games this year and only one team has won more counting the conference tournament and that is Florida State, and yet somehow they get shipped across the country.”
Strasburg (13-0, 1.24 ERA) is expected to be selected as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft by the Washington Nationals and has fanned 180 batters in 102 innings.
“They are playing against the best pitcher in the country by far, who is maybe the best pitcher ever in college baseball,” Fitt said. “That is your first-round opponent. That is a nice treat.”
To top off the regional, the selection committee tabbed defending national champion Fresno State (32-28) as the No. 4 seed. Irvine will meet Fresno State on Friday at 11 p.m.
“Frankly, Irvine has been the best team in the country this year,” Fitt said. “They have been the most consistent team. They haven’t lost a weekend
series. Irvine should have been a higher national seed than it is.
“It is not fair to Irvine or Virginia. That regional is ridiculous. The committee really did college baseball a disservice with this field.”
O’Connor spun the situation, realizing the opportunity that lies ahead on national TV — all the games from the regional will be televised by ESPNU.
“When we weren’t hosting, quite frankly, I want to go play the best people,” O’Connor said, “because we did that last week in the ACC tournament and I know this team is up for the challenge.”
Virginia has at least one believer.
“I think they can win it. As hard as that regional is going to be, somebody has to win it,” Fitt said. “If there is a team out there that could give Strasburg a run for his money, it might be Virginia.”
What the Cavaliers did to UNC ace Alex White on Friday, chasing the top five pick in the third inning, impressed Fitt.
“They pounded Alex White this week and he may be the second-best pitcher in the country. They just destroyed him,” he said. “Strasburg is a lot better than Alex White, but Virginia has shown they can hit velocity because Alex White was throwing 97 in the first inning. He can run it up.
“They can win that first game. They can win that regional. I was incredibly impressed with Virginia’s talent and I have been all year. It is the first time they have really put it together against good opponents. I think they can absolutely win that regional.”