OMAHA,
Neb. – As the 2015 season opened the Virginia Cavaliers fully
expected to be playing in the College World Series. As did most
preseason prognosticators, beginning the year ranked No. 2 overall
after finishing last year as the national runnerup to Vanderbilt.
They were viewed to be deep in all phases of the game, with a
legitimate staff ace, a bullpen full of power arms and a promising
lineup with impact performers from each class.
Ultimately
it worked out for the Cavaliers, making it to the College World
Series for the second consecutive year and advancing to the winner's
bracket after their 5-3 win over Arkansas on Saturday. However, the
path to Omaha certainly didn't come easy.
When
the season opened Preseason All-American outfielder JoeMcCarthy, who
hit .301 with six home runs and 11 stolen bases a year ago, was
sidelined for two months after having back surgery. Another one of
their top returning hitters, John La Prise, was lost in late March
after having hip surgery. And as soon as McCarthy did return staff
ace Nathan Kirby was shut down with a lat strain, which was followed
up with a bout with mononucleosis, and hasn't pitched since April 17.
By
the end of April the Cavaliers were 10-14 in the ACC and 21-14
overall, getting pushed out of the Top 25 team rankings on May 4,
which happened to be the same day their first College World Series
opponent, the Arkansas Razorbacks, re-joined the rankings.
“It
was tough given the situation and the challenges that we had
throughout the year,” Head Coach Brian O'Connor said on Friday from
TD Ameritrade Park. “Certainly there were huge expections coming
into the season. And all of those expectations were set prior to
McCarthy and La Prise (got injured). We made a conscious decision as
a team and we met a lot throughout the sesason to determine how were
were going to handle this. Every group is different, and we chose to
handle it throughout the season (in a way to) create new
opportunities for someone else.”
The
Cavs saved their season by going 12-5 in their last 17 games while
winning their last five to push their conference record to even at
15-15, which included a sweep of North Carolina to close out the
regular season. Virginia squeezed into the NCAA postseason as a No. 3
seed, and went 3-0 in the Lake Elsinore Regional, which included a
pair of wins over No. 16 USC, to advance.
Maryland
also provided an upset in Regional play, and as a result the Super
Regional pairing in Charlottesville had the two clubs facing one
another in what was a re-match from the 2014 postseason. With
Virginia playing the role of unexpected host, the friendly confines
of Davenport Field definitely played to their favor, winning their
first two games against the Terps in the best-of-three series.
“I've
got to be honest, I credit the Davenport faithful for that one,”
said a loose and seemingly carefree Connor Jones with a smile. “It
was probably the loudest I ever heard it in there. With this team you
never give up because we can pull off some crazy stuff in the later
innings.”
Connor
Jones is a perfect example of a player stepping up when an
opportunity presents itself. When Kirby went down it forced Jones,
their Saturday starter, into a more meaningful role. One of the more
talented sophomores in the nation with an electric fastball/slider
combination, Jones enjoyed a solid season after a good freshman year.
Heading
into the College World Series Jones was 7-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 16
starts. He had struck out 105 batters and allowed just 81 hits in 103
1/3 innings, although he had walked 48 batters during that time.
“The
first couple of starts my fastball command was what I was most trying
to develop,” Jones said of his improved feel down the stretch. “I
feel like the last five or six weeks it's really come on strong and
I've kind of found it and it feels good to finally have that there.”
Jones,
like Kirby, was a well-known talent coming out of high school. Jones
participated at the 2012 National Showcase at the Metrodome in
Minneapolis, where he peaked at 93 mph, but really burst onto the
scene later that fall with a pair of lights out performances at the
WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla.
“Connor
was a very highly touted kid out of high school,” O'Connor said of
his newfound ace. “He pitched great for us last year for the first
75 percent of the season; I think the inning build up got to him, he
wasn't used to it.
“Moving
into this year he had the best fall of anybody on our pitching staff,
and it took about half a year for him to figure out. Ever since Kirby
went down he's been pitching like a true No. 1 (and) it doesn't
surprise us because he's absolutely loaded with talent.”
As
for Kirby, he is still expected to make an appearance at some point
during the College World Series. He recently threw 40 pitches in a
bullpen session, and while his low-90s velocity was evident, the
command and overall feel wasn't quite there, not surprising
considering he hasn't thrown a pitch for nearly two months.
Kirby's
opportunity didn't come on Saturday, as Jones worked the first six
innings and Josh Sborz the final three, with Sborz receiving the
decision (5-2) by striking out five Razorbacks' hitters over the
final three innings of the game. Although Jones didn't have his best
stuff, he did a nice job minimizing the damage by working out of a
few jams, staying composed and trusting his stuff.
“I'm
so proud of Connor,” Coach O'Connor said after the game. “Certainly
he didn't have his best stuff but he found a way and I think that's a
great trait for a prospect like him to keep his team in the ballgame.
He didn't pitch in this stadium last year for as many games as we
played (here), so today was a big, big day for him.”
The
loose and patient vibe that both Coach O'Connor and Jones expressed
was also displayed by the entire squad in the first game of the
College World Series, winning a closely contested game, and doing so
with one of college baseball's most dyamic pitchers on the mound,
Arkansas' Zach Jackson.
While
the run that Virginia scored in the top of the eighth was charged to
losing pitcher Trey Killian, the run-scoring hit came off of Jackson,
the Razorbacks' go-to fireman. After striking out the first batter he
faced – three-hole hitter Matt Thaiss – Jackson gave up a
run-scoring double off the bat of Kenny Towns, which followed a pair
of stolen bases by Daniel Pinero, who chased Killian from the game
with a one-out single.
“Kenny's
got a unique ability to not speed it up, slow the game down in
pressure situations,” O'Connor said after the game. “That's what
you ask your veterans to do, and hopefully those young kids can see
that and grow from it. It was a great two-strike approach and he
found the barrel.”
Ernie
Clement added a sharp RBI single through the left side of the infield
off Jackson with two outs in the ninth. Pinero finished the day
3-for-4 with an RBI double of his own, a pair of runs scored and
three key stolen bases.
O'Connor's
big-picture perspective on even making it to Omaha made their opening
game win especially sweet.
“It's
hard to describe, you come into the season with all of those
expectations and they were kind of squelched for a while. And then in
the end you're here standing on this field in Omaha, Nebraska; it's
awesome, very rewarding.”
Jones
agreed with his skipper.
“I
think it gave us a really good perspective that you can't take
winning for granted and getting here really is special and it doesn't
just happen every year no matter what program you go to.”
Game notes:
• After
only three home runs were hit all of last year, two home runs were
hit in the first game of this year's College World Series. Joe
McCarthy hit the first of the two, a solo shot with two outs in the
top of the third inning, the first run of the game. SEC Player of the
Year Andrew Benintendi added a solo shot of his own in the fifth that
tied the game 3-3.
• Benintendi
had a strong game, as he also provided a sacrifice fly in Arkansas'
two-run third inning that put the Razorbacks on top, 2-1. He finshed
the game 1-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and two RBI, and also
made a spectacular diving catch – something he's done routinely
this year – to rob McCarthy of a base hit in the seventh.
• Virginia
moves to the winners' bracket and will send lefthander Brandon
Waddell to the mound against Florida at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.
Arkansas will play Miami in an elminiation game at 2:00 p.m.
Monday. Coach Dave Van Horn indicated after the game that Arkansas
would likely choose either Keaton McKinney or Jackson Lowery to
start.
Florida 15, Miami 3
Although
Hurricanes starter Andrew Suarez looked sharp in the early innings,
and the Miami hitters were able to make some hard contact off of
Florida starter Logan Shore, the Gators erupted for 11 runs in the
fourth inning to take a 12-2 lead and put the game well out of reach.
Down
2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, Florida sent 16 batters to
the plate, as Josh Tobias opened the frame with a walk and later
added a two-run single. J.J. Schwarz, who reached on an error in his
first at-bat, also hit a two-run single his second time through,
while Peter Alonso just missed hitting a three-run home run, instead
settling for a towering two-run double. Alonso also hit a sacrifice
fly in his first at-bat of the inning, giving him three RBI in the
fourth. Mike Rivera and Buddy Reed each had two singles in their two
fourth inning at-bats.
Florida
added insult to injury with three more runs in the bottom of the
seventh. Harrison Bader, who was one of two players to only have one
at-bat in their big fourth inning, hit an RBI double, while Tobias
added another RBI on a groundout, giving him three in the game.
The
11 runs scored set a single-inning record at TD Ameritrade Park, and
tied the CWS single-inning record set seven times previously.
As
noted Shore did give up some hard contact, and was removed in the top
of the sixth inning after allowing a leadoff double to Brandon Lopez,
who eventually came around to score. Shore's final line had him going
five innings allowing three runs on seven hits and two hit batters,
but he didn't allow a walk and struck out six Miami batters.
Lopez
went 3-for-3 in the game with a pair of doubles. David Thompson had
sacrifice flies in both the first and third innings to give Miami an
early yet short-lived lead. Zack Collins had a couple of hard-hit
balls including a double in a 2-for-3 effort.