2,065 MLB PLAYERS | 14,476 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
College  | Story  | 6/6/2015

Three tickets punched to Omaha

Mike Ferrin      Patrick Ebert     
Photo: Virginia Athletics

Friday Super Regional Recap | 2015 Super Regional Preview

Virginia 5, Maryland 4

The Houdini Hoos are on their way to Omaha. Freshman Ernie Clement’s two-run single in the bottom of the ninth set off a raucous celebration at Davenport Field as Virginia rallied from a 4-2 deficit to stun Maryland 5-4.

Two straight late inning rallies against the former conference rival Maryland Terrapins had UVa head coach Brian O’Connor appreciative of what his club had accomplished.

“What we went through this season is a great lesson. You can't take winning for granted. Wins are hard to come by. If you stick by the players and continue to believe in them and work with them, it is amazing what they can accomplish.”

After losing a heartbreaking Championship Series in Omaha last year to Vanderbilt, Virginia suffered through injuries to two Preseason All-Americans, Nathan Kirby and Joe McCarthy, as well as starting second baseman John La Prise.

With one week to go in ACC play, Virginia was squarely on the bubble at 12-15 in conference. Now, they make their third trip to the College World Series in five years.

Clement, who gained a starting spot in part because of La Prise's injury, had just three hits in the postseason before his game winner. In fact, the decisive game had been rough for the freshman as he was thrown twice out by Terps' catcher Kevin Martir as he tried to advance on pitches in the dirt. But O’Connor stayed confident his his second baseman.

“He made some mistakes early on, but he didn't hang his head, he didn't feel sorry for himself and his teammates didn't get on him about it,” O'Connor said. “That is a sign of maturity. If Ernie sits there and pouts and feels sorry for himself, he doesn't do what he did in the ninth inning.

“What an unbelievable characteristic to have. It's like Chris Taylor. Remember back in 2011, the ball trickled off his glove and went into right-center field? He felt terrible about that and thought he cost his team the game. Then he gets up and gets the game-winning hit. I think it is a good example of what our team is about.”

Virginia actually had a 2-1 lead after the first inning. Four consecutive one-out hits gave the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead and chased Ryan Selmer after just five hitters. Enter Robert Galligan. The Junior lefty, escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the first as The Terps rallied to build a 4-2 lead. It was an incredible performance from Galligan that saw him go 7 2/3 innings without allowing a Virginia runner to second base.

"I didn't know when the last batter was going to be.” said Galligan. “I didn't know when I was going to come out, so I was just trying to last as long as I could to give my team a chance to win.”

It was a gusty battle for the soft-tossing lefthander. Galligan never threw a pitch harder than 84, and struggled to command it, but had great success with a big-breaking mid-70s curveball.

Galligan started the ninth with two lefties due to hit among the first three batters, but walked the leadoff man Pavin Smith, then allowed Robbie Coman to single through the middle. That brought up McCarthy, who initially squared to bunt but walked on four pitches, chasing Galligan after 114 pitches.

In came Maryland closer Kevin Mooney, who blew his first save of the season in Game 1. Mooney walked the hero of the opener Kevin Doherty with the bases loaded to make it 3-2 before facing Clement.

Mooney fell behind 2-1, but got Clement to foul off a 93 mph fastball off the plate to even the count. Mooney turned to his strikeout curveball, but it didn't fool Clement.

“What we saw in the report was his go-to was a breaking ball, so that turned out to be what I got and I put it in play," Clement said after the game of his winning hit.

For Maryland it was a heartbreaking end to their season, for the second straight year in the same stadium. But head coach John Szefc, walked away with a lot of positives during a season full of change.

“This has been a great year for our program,” Szefc said. “We set the school record for wins and we were in the Super Regional. I have nothing negative to say to these guys. It is important for those guys to walk away from today feeling good about themselves. Even though its going to be difficult to do we will do it. We have a very good group next year and we look forward to it.”

For Virginia’s O’Connor, his fourth trip to the College World Series may be the sweetest.

“I am sure a lot of people will talk about the 2011 walkoff against Irvine and this one. This one I think is better. It is really hard to do, what this team has done. What this team has done is remarkable and they have earned the right to continue to play next weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.”



Miami 10, VCU 3

VCU's Cinderella story quickly came to an end on Saturday as the Hurricanes came out on top, 10-3. The game was quite close through six innings, before Miami erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh to advance to Omaha for the first time since 2008.

The game was tied 3-3 after two innings, with Miami pulling ahead by one in the top of the fourth, but otherwise the game stayed rather quiet during the middle innings. A leadoff double by George Iskenderian followed by three of walks, a single, a sac fly and an RBI groundout led to Miami's big inning in the seventh.



Florida 11, Florida State 4

The J.J. Schwarz home run barage continues as he blasted two more – his 17th and 18th of the season – in Saturday's win over Florida State as the Gators advanced to Omaha, their first CWS appearance since 2012.

Starter A.J. Puk wasn't quite as sharp as he has been recently, giving up four runs (three earned) in four innings before handing the ball over to fellow lefthander Bobby Poyner, who provided five scoreless frames out of the bullpen.

Schwarz and Peter Alonso each had three base hits, while Schwarz and Harrison Bader each had three RBI. Schwarz, Bader and shortstop Richie Martin all hit home runs for the Gators, chasing starter Mike Compton after only 2 2/3 innings, and scored at least one run in six of the nine innings played.

Virginia, Miami and Florida will form two-thirds of the left side of the bracket, and will be joined on Sunday from the winner of the Missouri State/Arkansas game.



Missouri State 3, Arkansas 1

Missouri State pulled back within even of Arkansas at one game apiece thanks to yet another dominant pitching performance by lefthander Matt Hall. Hall went the distance, allowing just one unearned run on one base hit and four walks while striking out eight with his usual mid- to upper-80s fastball and signature hard-breaking curve. The Bears scored two runs in the top of the third inning after scoring one run in the second that gave them all the runs they would need to win this game.

The loss spoiled a fairly good outing for Jackson Lowery, who did a good job coming in relief of Keaton McKinney in only the second inning to induce an inning-ending double play before providing six more innings in a closely contested game. The two teams will play the deciding game at 3:00 p.m. ET.



Cal State Fullerton 3, Louisville 2

The right side of the bracket with their eyes on Omaha joined Super Regional action on Saturday starting with an intriguing pitching matchup between two highly-sout after arms for this year's MLB Draft. Both Louisville's Kyle Funkhouer and Cal State Fullerton's Thomas Eshleman were sharp over seven innings, with Funkhouser allowing just two runs and Eshelman one. Titans' closer Tyler Peitzmeier picked up the win by working the final three innings, although he did give up the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning – a solo shot by Louisville designated hitter Mike White – that forced extra innings.

The winning run came in to score on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch as Cardinals flamethrowing closer Zach Burdi plunked Timmy Richards, the first batter he faced after coming in to relieve Lincoln Henzman.

Sensational Louisville freshman Brendan Mckay, who went 3-for-5, accounted for the other run in the game, a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the sixth that tied that game 1-1. Dalton Blaser went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI for the Titans.



TCU 13, Texas A&M 4

For a team known most for their pitching and defense, the TCU offense certainly jumped on Aggies starter Grayson Long early and often in their big 13-4 win on Saturday. The Horned Frogs scored two runs in both the first and second innings and put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth. Six different TCU hitters enjoyed multi-hit games, including Derek Odell's 4-for-5 performance and a 3-for-4 day by Dane Steinghagen. Odell, Jeremie Fagnan and Nolan Brown each drove in a pair of runs while shortstop Keaton Jones had three RBI.

Tyler Alexander and Trey Teakell each tossed four innings for TCU, with Teakell blanking A&M after they showed some life with a three-run fourth.



LSU 4, Louisiana 3

Louisiana certainly made things interesting late in this game, scoring single tallies in both the eighth and ninth innings – the second of which tied the game 3-3 – before LSU ended the game on a walkoff home run by Chris Sciambra.

The Tigers took a 3-0 lead – thanks to Jake Fraley's RBI double in the first and two-run bomb in the third – into the sixth inning before the Cajuns got on board. Alex Lange, who struck out 11 batters but also gave up 10 hits in eight innings, wasn't the only freshman that performed admirably in this contest as Wyatt Marks went seven strong for Louisiana.



Vanderbilt 13, Illinois 0

In what was expected to be a pitchers' duel between Vanderbilt's Carson Fulmer and Illinois' Kevin Duchene quickly turned into a blowout. The Commodores jumped on Duchene early with three first-inning runs before chasing him out of the game in the top of the fifth. Illinois used five relievers after using only four pitchers all of last weekend in Regional play but could not find a way to slow the Vanderbilt offense.

Vanderbilt is growing accustomed to posting gaudy stat lines this NCAA postseason. Six Vanderbilt hitters had multi-hit games led by Jeren Kendall's 2-for-4 perofmrnace in which he hit his eighth home run, scored twice and drove in three. His fellow outfield mates Bryan Reynolds and Rhett Wiseman each went 3-for-5 in the game.

And that was more than enough for Fulmer to move to 13-2 on the year.
PG Special Events
Travel, Lodging, Entertainment
PG Partners
Recommended
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2024 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.