Vanderbilt 9, Virginia 8
I said in my preview for the Virginia-Vanderbilt series that if Virginia kept pitching the way it had been, there would be no reason that it could not win the College World Series. Well, that did not happen Monday night.
Starter Nathan Kirby, the No. 1 pitcher for most of the season, got through the first two innings with relative ease. He did fall behind the count against a couple of batters but was able to produce outs anyway. He even struck out the first batter of the third inning. Through 2 1/3 innings, Kirby had not allowed a hit and had struck out four batters. Then, something happened. No one really knows what. Kirby said after the game he couldn't find his release point. Catcher Nate Irving said after the game he told Kirby to maintain poise and just throw strikes. But he completely lost control and could only rarely get a strike, and those were down the middle and turned into easy hits. The rest of Kirby's third inning went like this: Walk, double, walk, single, then three walks. Bad baseball bred bad baseball as well when a hit went to Mike Papi at first base and he erred and failed to get a handle on the ball in time to get an out any where and another run scored. When Whit Mayberry was finally put in in relief, it was 5-2 Vanderbilt.
To put Kirby's inning in perspective, he threw 36 pitches in the inning and 24 were balls. He walked five batters overall. He had never given up more than three walks in any game all season.
Mayberry pitched well in a couple of innings after the third, but he, too, had his own share of problems in the third. He offered up a sacrifice fly, hit a batter, and gave up a double. When it was all said and done, it was extremely bad timing for the worst inning of the season for Virginia.
But, the Cavaliers did not hang their heads. They battled back. They scored three runs in their half of the third, two in the fifth, and one in the eighth to close to within one run. And if not for some luck and good defensive plays by Vanderbilt, Virginia probably would have won. It was 9-7 in the fifth inning and the count was 2-0 for Papi with two men on base. He launched a shot to deep right center field but the Vandy center fielder caught it on the warning track. A home run would have given UVa the lead at 10-9 in only the fifth inning. In the eighth, Commodores first baseman Zander Wiel made two terrific stops at first base which helped his team get out of the inning only giving up the one run.
In the ninth inning, the Cavs went quietly, 1-2-3, thus quickly halting their stirring comeback.
Now, tonight, UVa will have to win to force a decisive Game 3 against Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Brandon Waddell (9-3, 2.57) toes the mound for the Wahoos and Tyler Beede (8-7, 3.80) goes to work for the Commodores. Certainly, despite the loss, Virginia has some semblance of hope and momentum. Virginia had one bad inning -- very bad -- Monday, but otherwise, outplayed Vandy. The Commodores did not score any runs in the first and second innings and the fourth through ninth innings. UVa outhit Vandy, 15-6. It is hard to not feel good about this second game and hard to believe that another inning that bad could happen to Virginia. With that said, the Wahoos are in a tough position and they could play a good game and still lose by a more normal CWS-sounding score of 3-2.
Hopefully, Waddell -- who started out a little rough against TCU in his last outing but ended up going seven innings, allowing six hits and two runs (one earned) -- can pitch a solid game for the 'Hoos and the offense can stay aggressive. Those things must happen for UVa to force a Game 3.
I said in my preview for the Virginia-Vanderbilt series that if Virginia kept pitching the way it had been, there would be no reason that it could not win the College World Series. Well, that did not happen Monday night.
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| Nathan Kirby |
To put Kirby's inning in perspective, he threw 36 pitches in the inning and 24 were balls. He walked five batters overall. He had never given up more than three walks in any game all season.
Mayberry pitched well in a couple of innings after the third, but he, too, had his own share of problems in the third. He offered up a sacrifice fly, hit a batter, and gave up a double. When it was all said and done, it was extremely bad timing for the worst inning of the season for Virginia.
But, the Cavaliers did not hang their heads. They battled back. They scored three runs in their half of the third, two in the fifth, and one in the eighth to close to within one run. And if not for some luck and good defensive plays by Vanderbilt, Virginia probably would have won. It was 9-7 in the fifth inning and the count was 2-0 for Papi with two men on base. He launched a shot to deep right center field but the Vandy center fielder caught it on the warning track. A home run would have given UVa the lead at 10-9 in only the fifth inning. In the eighth, Commodores first baseman Zander Wiel made two terrific stops at first base which helped his team get out of the inning only giving up the one run.
In the ninth inning, the Cavs went quietly, 1-2-3, thus quickly halting their stirring comeback.
Now, tonight, UVa will have to win to force a decisive Game 3 against Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Brandon Waddell (9-3, 2.57) toes the mound for the Wahoos and Tyler Beede (8-7, 3.80) goes to work for the Commodores. Certainly, despite the loss, Virginia has some semblance of hope and momentum. Virginia had one bad inning -- very bad -- Monday, but otherwise, outplayed Vandy. The Commodores did not score any runs in the first and second innings and the fourth through ninth innings. UVa outhit Vandy, 15-6. It is hard to not feel good about this second game and hard to believe that another inning that bad could happen to Virginia. With that said, the Wahoos are in a tough position and they could play a good game and still lose by a more normal CWS-sounding score of 3-2.
Hopefully, Waddell -- who started out a little rough against TCU in his last outing but ended up going seven innings, allowing six hits and two runs (one earned) -- can pitch a solid game for the 'Hoos and the offense can stay aggressive. Those things must happen for UVa to force a Game 3.
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