Wahoos battle back to take down Dallas Baptist, advance to College World Series

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In the bottom of the fifth inning of Monday's elimination game against Dallas Baptist in Columbia, S.C., Virginia's Chris Newell stood on third base with one out.

With the Cavaliers trailing the Patriots 2-1, it was a perfect opportunity to at least tie the game, if not take the lead. But with Ray Gaither pitching, Max Cotier struck out swinging, and then Kyle Teel, perhaps Virginia's best overall hitter, stepped to the plate and forced a full count before also striking out.

"When there's guys in scoring position, you want to be the guy to get them in," Teel said after the game. "That's why I was so angry. I wanted to do it right then and there."

Eventually, UVa's half of the seventh inning rolled around. Jake Gelof got UVa started with a single to center. Logan Michaels moved him over with a bunt, and then Newell struck out. Zack Gelof walked, and DBU inserted a new reliever, Peyton Sherlin. Max Cotier legged out an infield single up the middle that second baseman Jackson Glenn fielded, but he could not get a throw off.

Again Teel marched to the plate, again with two outs, this time with the bases loaded. The freshman All-American seized his opportunity this time. The rest will go down in Virginia baseball lore.

With the count 2-2, Teel belted a grand slam to the deepest part of center field, giving UVa a 5-2 lead that it did not relinquish. DBU managed only one base runner over the final two innings against reliever Matt Wyatt (4-1, 3.79) as Virginia (35-25) advanced to Omaha and the College World Series for the fifth time. UVa has won five of the seven super regionals it has appeared in.


Virginia celebrates earning its fifth trip to the College World Series. (Associated Press)

Teel called it "a dream come true" to get to the CWS. "That's what I wanted to do when I was little. Virginia was always my dream school," he said. "Obviously, them [going to the CWS], I wanted to be a part of that."

Virginia faces No. 3 national seed Tennessee in its CWS opener Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Tennessee stayed at home in its super regional and defeated LSU in two straight games.

“Kyle Teel is fearless,” coach Brian O’Connor said. “He isn’t afraid, and to win games at this elite level of baseball, you not only have to have skill, you can’t be afraid. You will crumble at times when pressure’s on if you’re afraid. He’s not afraid. He’s got 100 percent belief in his ability, and he is going to let it rip every time he steps on the baseball field."
Teel said his favorite saying is, "No pressure, no diamonds."

The Cavaliers have created a lot of diamonds under pressure this postseason. Virginia has won six elimination games. In its ever-rotating cast of characters to step up, on Monday, in addition to Teel, it was Newell, Nic Kent, Wyatt, and Nate Savino making huge contributions.


Kyle Teel rounds the bases after crushing his grand slam. (Associated Press)

Like Teel, DBU's Andres Sosa ripped a shot to deep center field in the seventh inning. But unlike Teel's slam, Sosa was robbed of a solo homer at the wall by a leaping Newell, who let out a "Let's go!" roar after making the catch. It should be noted that Sosa admired his hit for a bit thinking it was gone while Teel took off flying out of the box. Effort was rewarded.
Kent got Virginia on the board first with a solo homer in the fourth that trimmed DBU's lead to 2-1.

Wyatt, the winning pitcher against South Carolina the weekend before, earned the win by pitching 5⅔ innings of relief, giving up no runs on just two hits and two walks while striking out eight. Savino got the start and pitched solidly, tossing 3⅓ innings while allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out three.

"Getting those bases loaded with Kyle up, I was thinking in the back of my head, ‘Wow, a grand slam would be nice here,'" Wyatt said. "The guy was throwing a lot of sliders, and I was like, 'Come on, Kyle, just sit slider, you’re gonna get this one,' and he got it."

Against Dallas Baptist (41-18), Wyatt "attacked on the mound like he did last weekend against South Carolina," O’Connor said. "Boy, he just had an amazing pitching performance."

The Virginia-Dallas Baptist super regional stretched to Game 3 on Monday after UVa evened the series with a 4-0 win Sunday. Amid controversy, DBU took the opener Saturday, 6-5.

In Game 2, Griff McGarry was excellent starting on the mound, throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing just two hits -- both in the seventh -- and three walks. He tallied 10 strikeouts. He walked his first batter in the eighth, prompting his removal and the insertion of Brandon Neeck (2-0, 1.93), who recorded the win. Neeck and and Kyle Whitten split the final two innings, allowing a total of three base runners.

Virginia struggled against Rhett Kouba as well but finally broke through in the eighth, with Zake Gelof leading off with a laser-beam home run to left field. Later, with Kragen Kechely pitching, Tappen launched a three-run HR to pretty much seal the game for the 'Hoos, with the way the pitchers were dealing.

In the first game, Devin Ortiz, the hero of the second win over Old Dominion, jacked a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning to put Virginia up 5-2 after Alex Tappen and Jake Gelof got the inning started with back-to-back solo homers.

In the sixth, Sosa tied the game with a two-run homer off Zach Messinger (3-2, 4.31), and then in the seventh, Andrew Benefield gave the Patriots the lead with his own HR.

The controversy came in the Virginia half of the eighth. With runners on first and second and one out, Tappen was hit by a pitch and headed down to first base. But upon review, replay officials determined that Tappen leaned into the pitch, and he was instead called out. The bases would have been loaded with one out. Instead, there were two outs, and Jake Gelof flied out to end the inning.

After a lengthy weather delay, Michaels attempted to start a rally for UVa in the ninth, drawing a leadoff walk. Jimmy Sullivan pinch ran for him and got all the way to third. With two outs, Cotier ripped a hard liner that would've scored Sullivan and tied the game, but Sosa made a great diving play at first base for the last out.

Andrew Abbott started the game and went five innings in a no decision, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out eight.

Abbott was blazing hot to end the regular season and in his ACC tournament start, but UVa has now lost in his past two starts. Nevertheless, the Cavaliers have advanced through regionals and super regionals to be one of the final eight teams left in Omaha. That fact alone -- six straight victories in elimination games without winning either of Abbott's starts -- speaks to the resiliency and growth of this group of players.

"It takes everybody," O’Connor said. "It takes every one of them, and if one of them decides not to show up on a day, you’re home. You’re not getting [this] chance."

The coach from Omaha, who also reached the CWS as a player for Creighton in 1991, said this team stands out a bit from all of his successful UVa squads.

"What this team has accomplished and the opportunity they have now to go to Omaha is just incredibly special," he said. "This is our fifth trip, and I gotta tell you, they’re all joyous, they’re all wonderful, they’re all unique in their own way, but this one [stands out because of] the route that this team has taken. Six times they had their backs against the wall [facing] elimination, and for them to come through speaks to the character and the resiliency and the type of young men that we have in this program."

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