Virginia 7, Vanderbilt 2
Virginia continued its dominance of Vanderbilt in the College World Series on Tuesday. But the championship round is tied at a game apiece with college baseball's version of Game 7 tonight.
Vanderbilt is lucky the third inning of Game 1 went so well.
Other than that one inning, the Cavaliers have outscored the Commdores, 15-2. UVa thoroughly outplayed Vandy on Tuesday and it still took until the sixth inning for that fact to get reflected on the scoreboard.
Thanks to a blown call on a steal attempt by Vandy's John Norwood, Vanderbilt scored the first run to go up 1-0 in the second inning. Virginia tied it in the third on a Branden Cogswell RBI.
Vanderbilt took the lead again in the fourth inning thanks to a Kenny Towns throwing error at third base and
a double by Vandy's Norwood. In a big play this inning, Norwood was caught in a pickle between second and third base and tagged out for the second out of the inning.
After that, Virginia starting pitcher Brandon Waddell really started to settle down. He struck out the next batter to end the inning and ended up going all nine to really preserve Virginia's bullpen for Game 3 tonight. Waddell gave up five hits, two runs (one earned) while striking out five and walking three. He allowed just one hit, a meaningless single in the ninth, after the fourth inning. Just like his effort against TCU in the 15-inning game, he got better as the game wore on. Against the Horned Frogs, that ended up being a no decision but he got the win for his efforts Tuesday.
UVa finally took control in the sixth inning with three runs on four hits, by Mike Papi, Joe McCarthy, Towns, and Brandon Downes. In the seventh, Virginia added two more runs on hits by Cogswell, McCarthy and Downes.
There was controversy in the ninth when Papi was caught in a rundown between third and home and barreled over Vandy third baseman Tyler Campbell. He looked regretful after the play, though he did not apologize (at least out in the open). Vanderbilt fans started chanting, "Throw him out!" in reference to Papi, but cooler heads prevailed and he was just called for runner interference and called out (Campbell held on to the ball anyway). The play looks bad in slow motion, but you have to think about how fast it probably went in Papi's head. He is trying to get back to the bag. Obviously, running as fast as possible will aid in that cause. So, he doesn't let up. He also does not see the other player throw the ball to Campbell. That means, that in his mind, maybe the other player fell, or threw the ball away or something. A mistake by the Vandy player on the throw, or even Campbell on a bobbled catch, would mean that Papi hustling back would be the right thing to do. Finally, you can see at about the last split second, Papi's feet get tangled and I think that is partially why he loses his balance. And if you notice, he falls into Campbell but does not drop his shoulder like lots of people have said. His shoulder he hits Campbell with is actually up in the air, as if he is trying to catch himself. And if there was any reason to believe he had malicious intent, I think that notion is dispelled shortly after with Papi's reaction. There is no arguing and no staredown of Campbell. Vandy coach Tim Corbin said after the game the play would have no carryover effect into tonight's game. Certainly, it would be very stupid for the Commodores to retaliate by hitting Papi tonight and putting him on base, especially with McCarthy and Towns coming up to bat soon after him, two Wahoos who combined for six hits Tuesday. Still, you have to wonder if the chippiness will give the Commodores any motivation.
On the mound tonight, Virginia is likely going with Josh Sborz (6-4, 2.84) who has been really good in his last two outings against Mississippi and Maryland. He last pitched Saturday so would be going on three days of rest. Artie Lewicki would probably follow him in the bullpen, and then Nick Howard as closer if needed. That trio has not allowed an earned run in 36 2/3 postseason innings. Corbin indicated after the game that Vanderbilt would likely go with Carson Fullmer (7-1, 2.00), who would also be going on three days of rest. On Saturday, he lasted just 4 1/3 innings against Texas, allowing four and two earned runs while walking six.
Virginia is now on the brink of a national championship -- its first in baseball -- after deftly staving off elimination Tuesday. The Cavaliers have all the momentum and have been the better team in about 15 of 18 innings so far. It's time to bring a trophy back to Charlottesville.
Virginia continued its dominance of Vanderbilt in the College World Series on Tuesday. But the championship round is tied at a game apiece with college baseball's version of Game 7 tonight.
Vanderbilt is lucky the third inning of Game 1 went so well.
Other than that one inning, the Cavaliers have outscored the Commdores, 15-2. UVa thoroughly outplayed Vandy on Tuesday and it still took until the sixth inning for that fact to get reflected on the scoreboard.
Thanks to a blown call on a steal attempt by Vandy's John Norwood, Vanderbilt scored the first run to go up 1-0 in the second inning. Virginia tied it in the third on a Branden Cogswell RBI.
Vanderbilt took the lead again in the fourth inning thanks to a Kenny Towns throwing error at third base and
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| Brandon Waddell |
After that, Virginia starting pitcher Brandon Waddell really started to settle down. He struck out the next batter to end the inning and ended up going all nine to really preserve Virginia's bullpen for Game 3 tonight. Waddell gave up five hits, two runs (one earned) while striking out five and walking three. He allowed just one hit, a meaningless single in the ninth, after the fourth inning. Just like his effort against TCU in the 15-inning game, he got better as the game wore on. Against the Horned Frogs, that ended up being a no decision but he got the win for his efforts Tuesday.
UVa finally took control in the sixth inning with three runs on four hits, by Mike Papi, Joe McCarthy, Towns, and Brandon Downes. In the seventh, Virginia added two more runs on hits by Cogswell, McCarthy and Downes.
There was controversy in the ninth when Papi was caught in a rundown between third and home and barreled over Vandy third baseman Tyler Campbell. He looked regretful after the play, though he did not apologize (at least out in the open). Vanderbilt fans started chanting, "Throw him out!" in reference to Papi, but cooler heads prevailed and he was just called for runner interference and called out (Campbell held on to the ball anyway). The play looks bad in slow motion, but you have to think about how fast it probably went in Papi's head. He is trying to get back to the bag. Obviously, running as fast as possible will aid in that cause. So, he doesn't let up. He also does not see the other player throw the ball to Campbell. That means, that in his mind, maybe the other player fell, or threw the ball away or something. A mistake by the Vandy player on the throw, or even Campbell on a bobbled catch, would mean that Papi hustling back would be the right thing to do. Finally, you can see at about the last split second, Papi's feet get tangled and I think that is partially why he loses his balance. And if you notice, he falls into Campbell but does not drop his shoulder like lots of people have said. His shoulder he hits Campbell with is actually up in the air, as if he is trying to catch himself. And if there was any reason to believe he had malicious intent, I think that notion is dispelled shortly after with Papi's reaction. There is no arguing and no staredown of Campbell. Vandy coach Tim Corbin said after the game the play would have no carryover effect into tonight's game. Certainly, it would be very stupid for the Commodores to retaliate by hitting Papi tonight and putting him on base, especially with McCarthy and Towns coming up to bat soon after him, two Wahoos who combined for six hits Tuesday. Still, you have to wonder if the chippiness will give the Commodores any motivation.
On the mound tonight, Virginia is likely going with Josh Sborz (6-4, 2.84) who has been really good in his last two outings against Mississippi and Maryland. He last pitched Saturday so would be going on three days of rest. Artie Lewicki would probably follow him in the bullpen, and then Nick Howard as closer if needed. That trio has not allowed an earned run in 36 2/3 postseason innings. Corbin indicated after the game that Vanderbilt would likely go with Carson Fullmer (7-1, 2.00), who would also be going on three days of rest. On Saturday, he lasted just 4 1/3 innings against Texas, allowing four and two earned runs while walking six.
Virginia is now on the brink of a national championship -- its first in baseball -- after deftly staving off elimination Tuesday. The Cavaliers have all the momentum and have been the better team in about 15 of 18 innings so far. It's time to bring a trophy back to Charlottesville.
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