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Game 7 (Loser’s Bracket Game): Ole Miss 2, Texas Tech 1
Another great pitching battle in this one between Texas Tech’s freshman righty Ryan Moseley and Ole Miss lefty Christian Trent. The two starters gave up a hit here and there, but anytime they had to wiggle out of trouble they were able to do so through the first six innings. As has been the case through most of the games at this year’s College World Series, the game and momentum swung in both directions once the 7th inning started.
“Just another low scoring, close baseball game here today,” said Rebels head coach Mike Bianco. “I thought both guys were terrific, Moseley, and of course Christian.”
With Ole Miss offense struggling for the second straight game head coach Mike Bianco turned to the only player who managed to produce on Saturday night against Virginia, Holt Perdzock. The 5-foot-11-inch catcher came into the game after two Rebels had reached via an error and a walk in the bottom of the seventh. Perdzock swung at the first pitch he saw from Moseley and hit it down the third base line, past a diving attempt by the Red Raiders’ Ryan Long. Rebels’ first baseman Sikes Orvis, who reached on an error by Texas Tech second baseman Bryant Burleson, rounded third and scored easily on the play to give Ole Miss a 1-0 lead heading to the top of the 8th.
Texas Tech turned to their bench in ninth with their season on the line. A one-out single by designated hitter Adam Kirsch gave the Red Raiders life, then pinch-runner Zach Davis came in and proceeded to steal second and third base to put the tying run 90-feet away. The two steals made Davis a perfect 9-for-9 in that department in 2014. With Davis on third, pinch-hitter Anthony Lyons drove a pitch to shallow right for a game-tying sacrifice fly off Ole Miss closer Scott Weathersby.
The momentum wouldn’t stay in Texas Tech’s favor for long. A one-out walk and a throwing error by Red Raiders’ reliever Cameron Smith put runners at the corners for Ole Miss. Texas Tech brought an outfielder in to fill the gap between short and third, but Rebels’ pinch-hitter John Gatlin, who entered the game hitting .103 in 29 at-bats, reached out of the zone and slapped a single over Burleson’s head to bring home relief pitcher turned pinch-runner Aaron Greenwood and keep Ole Miss’ season alive until at least Thursday. Gatlin experienced more than what you would call typical emotions after the game.
“You know, as most people would know, I guess, my grandmother passed away,” he said. “I wouldn’t think of anything else that she could be more proud of. Coach [Cliff] Godwin asked me if I needed to go home, and I said, ‘are you kidding me?’ She’d kill me if I came home right now. But, yeah, game’s on the line like that, so much going through your head and she was definitely part of it.”
Moseley went a career-high 7.1 innings, allowing just an unearned run in the 7th. Trent tossed eight scoreless before giving way to the bullpen. Both guys struck out six hitters and received a no decision.
Game 8 (Winner’s Bracket Game): Virginia 3, TCU 2
Virginia and TCU locked into a pitchers duel lasting late into the evening (WBR/Brad Williams)
It took a little while for both of these teams to settle in both on the mound and in the field. Both pitchers battled nerves and control issues early, and the defenses behind them made costly mistakes that led to runs. Once they all recovered, it became apparent that those in attendance were in for a treat between two of the best pitching staffs and two of the best defenses the NCAA has to offer.
Both teams led off their evening with doubles, but it was Virginia that was able to capitalize first. After stranding a runner at third in the top half of the first, the Cavaliers got a lead off double off the bat of second baseman Branden Cogswell. He came around to score on the next at-bat as Daniel Pinero’s sac fly to right brought him home after a poor throw to third by TCU right fielder Dylan Fitzgerald got away from third baseman Derek Odell, and gave the Cavs a 1-0 lead.
Fitzgerald atoned for his costly error the first chance he, lining an game-tying RBI single to left off Virginia starter Brandon Waddell after back-to-back singles by Garret Crain and Jerrick Suiter to start the top of the second. Waddell induced what should have been an inning-ending ground ball to Daniel Pinero at short, but Pinero couldn’t hang on to the ball and Suiter came home for the second run for TCU.
Cogswell delivered again for the Cavaliers in the bottom of the 5th. After leading off the bottom half with a double to the gap in left-center field, he moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Pinero. A grounder to Horned Frogs’ second baseman Garrett Crain by slugger Mike Papi brought Cogswell home to tie it up, 2-2, heading to the sixth inning.
Waddell and TCU starting pitcher Brandon Finnegan tossed up more zeros in the seventh, then Finnegan again in the eighth before turning it over to their elite, power-armed closers, Nick Howard (Virginia) and Riley Ferrell (TCU). Armed with 94-97 MPH fastballs and mid-to-high 80s breaking balls each closer made the scoreboard an afterthought as the game pressed on well into extra innings.
“Extra inning game, my goal was just to go out there and attack the first guy,” said Howard. “If I did that, their chances of scoring would definitely go down, so I was focused on that first guy.”
Together they combined to throw 8 innings of 2-hit baseball. Each issued a single walk and combined for 10 strikeouts (Howard – 6, Ferrell – 4). From the 9th inning all the way through the 14th, Virginia went 1 for 19 at the plate, drawing just a single intentional walk in the 9th after a lead off single. Once Ferrell got out of the 9th inning, it was a game of who could make the big pitches and the big plays defensively. Each team was up to the task until the bottom of the 15th inning when Cavaliers 9-hole hitter and catcher Nate Irving drilled a ball over the head of TCU left fielder Boomer White and coasted to second base for a double. A sac bunt by Brandon Cogswell moved him over to third just before Daniel Pinero stepped into the batter’s box.
“That was our break,” Cogswell said. “We had been battling for the six innings after the ninth, and for Irving to get a ball over the left fielder’s head, we knew we had to take advantage of that. All of our approaches kind of changed at that split second, and we knew we had to execute and get the job done for the team.”
At first, Pinero tried to squeeze Irving home, but after two failed bunt attempts he was left to swing away in a two-strike count. He stroked the next pitch he saw on a rope to center field. Brandon Downes tracked it down and made the catch, but the ball was plenty deep enough to score Irving without a play at the plate and send the Cavaliers to the driver’s seat in Bracket Two.
“Coach [Kevin McMullan] put the bunt sign down, and I missed twice on two curveballs,” said Pinero. “Then I just went into two-strike approach kind of. He threw me another curveball, and I just stayed back, put it in the air and got the job done.”
The 15-inning affair was the longest College World Series game since 1970, and is now in a four-way tie for the longest in the history of the series. Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor summed it perfectly, saying afterwards:
“That was a heck of a baseball game. Both teams really fought and battled.”
Virginia advances to Friday where they will await the winner of Thursday’s 7:00 pm (CT) elimination game between TCU and Ole Miss for the right to play in the championship series.
“I felt that this game, the 1-0 game to go 2-0 was really important,” O’Connor said. “It gives you an extra day’s rest. You don’t have to play again until Friday, and obviously you have the upper hand. I know the two teams still in our bracket are not going to go away, but just really proud of our club. They’ve grinded all year, and today was another great example of that.”