Game One: Virginia 5, Arkansas 3
Last season’s runners-up, Virginia, used some early pop, timely hitting, and three shutdown innings from closer Josh Sborz to earn a 5-3 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first game of the 2015 College World Series.
“That was certainly an excellent ball game,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said, “hard fought on both sides. I’m just really proud of our team for, again, continuing to find a way to win a ball game. That ball game is kind of how we’ve played for the last couple of weeks.”
Junior right fielder Joe McCarthy, who played in only 26 of the team’s 61 games entering the College World Series due to injury, set the tone for Virginia’s two-out hitting with his second home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from Arkansas starting pitcher Trey Killian. The solo shot to the bleachers in right field gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead, but Razorbacks would respond.
Arkansas sophomore center fielder and 2015 Dick Howser Trophy winner Andrew Benintendi drove in a pair of runs on the day. His first, a sacrifice fly to right field, tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning. His second came on a solo home run into the right field bullpen, his 20th of the season, off Virginia starting pitcher Connor Jones in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game once again.
“On the sac fly my hands slipped on the bat, but I was fortunate to hit it far enough so [left fielder Joe Serrano] could score,” Benintendi said. “And [on the home run], I just got a fastball in and kept my hands in.”
With the game still even at 3-all in the top of the eighth inning, the Cavaliers put together another two-out rally — only this time it came against Arkansas closer Zach Jackson. A one-out single by sophomore shortstop Daniel Pinero chased Killian from the game. The Razorbacks turned to their stopper out of the bullpen, but while Jackson was getting ahead 0-2 against sophomore catcher Matt Thaiss, Pinero was busying swiping second and third base to move 90 feet away from putting the Cavaliers back in front.
Jackson got Thaiss swinging on the next pitch, but after getting ahead of Virginia senior third Kenny Towns, the Razorbacks’ closer ended up in a full count before surrendering a double to right field by Towns that scored the go-ahead run for the Cavaliers.
“He had some good stuff,” Towns said of Jackson. “I saw his fastball and his breaking ball, but he got ahead on me. I was on the defensive right away. When I got to 1-2, I was just trying to make sure I put the ball in play with two strikes. I was able to take some close pitches and get myself in a better count, a full count, and was able to see that breaking ball pretty well and put a good swing on it.”
Virginia added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, but it didn’t prove to be necessary as closer Josh Sborz finished off the final three innings, striking out five Razorbacks while only allowing a hit and a walk to earn his fifth win of the season and send the Cavaliers into the winner’s bracket game on Monday night.
Game One Highlights
Top of the 2nd: Arkansas starting pitcher Trey Killian breezed through the first two hitters in the inning, but Virginia junior right fielder Joe McCarthy changed that in a hurry. McCarthy, limited to 26 games due to injury heading into the College World Series, drove the first pitch he saw from Killian into the right field bleachers. His second home run of the season gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.
Bottom of the 3rd: The Razorbacks got the lead off runner on base for the third inning in a row. They didn’t fail to capitalize this time around. Junior third baseman Bobby Wernes singled to right field to move left fielder Joe Serrano to third base with no outs. Dick Howser Trophy winner Andrew Benintendi scored Serrano to tie the game on a sacrifice fly to left field for his team-leading 56th run batted in. Arkansas didn’t stop there as sophomore first baseman Clark Eagan put the Razorbacks in front with a two-out RBI double to left field that scored Wernes from second base to make it 2-1 heading to the fourth inning.
Top of the 5th: Just as they did to take an early lead back in the second inning, the Virginia offense produced a two-out rally to retake the lead over Arkansas. Freshman second baseman Ernie Clement was hit by a pitch and moved into scoring position on a grounder down the first base line. Then with two outs, sophomore shortstop Daniel Pinero dropped an RBI double down the left field line to score Clement and tie the game. Pinero scored on the next at-bat when sophomore catcher Matt Thaiss singled through the left side to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead.
Bottom of the 5th: Virginia’s lead didn’t last long as Arkansas star center fielder Andrew Benintendi tied the game with his NCAA-leading 20th home run of the season. Benintendi sent a 1-0 offering from Cavaliers starter Connor Jones into the right field bullpen to tie the game at 3-all.
Top of the 8th: With the game still tied, the Cavaliers chased Arkansas starting pitcher Trey Killian from the game on a one-out single by Daniel Pinero on Killian’s 100th pitch of the afternoon. The Razorbacks brought in sophomore closer Zach Jackson, but Pinero greeted him by stealing second and third base on each of Jackson’s first two pitches. With the go-ahead run now 90 feet away, senior third baseman Kenny Towns cashed it in with a two-out RBI double to right to give Virginia a 4-3 lead.
Top of the 9th: The Cavaliers didn’t let up despite having a one-run lead and their closer dealing on the mound. Junior designated hitter Robbie Coman singled to lead off the inning, then was replaced by pinch-runner Thomas Woodruff, who promptly stole second base to move into scoring position. After two ground outs, Ernie Clement stepped up and slapped a single through the left side of the infield to plate Woodruff and give the Cavaliers an insurance run.
Game Two: #4 Florida 15, #5 Miami 3
There weren’t many, if any, teams playing better than the Florida Gators entering the College World Series. After a shaky start against in-state rival and fellow national seed Miami, the Gators turned the game on its head and rolled to a record-setting 15-3 win over the Hurricanes in the nightcap of Day 1 at Omaha’s premiere collegiate event.
The Gators scored 11 runs in the fourth inning against three Miami pitchers. The output set a TD Ameritrade Park Omaha records for runs scored in an inning, and tied a College World Series record for runs in a single frame. The last time it was done was June 14, 2008 when Stanford did against another Sunshine State traditional power in Florida State.
“I thought the first three innings we came out a little nervous,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Nerves I guess were getting the most of us, the best of us. Certainly did not see an 11-run inning coming in the fourth, but you know, I can’t say enough about our approach there. We stayed in the middle of the field. I thought in the first few innings we were trying to do too much, and obviously the big inning was the difference in the game.”
The strangest part looking back at such a dominant victory is the fact that Florida fell behind 2-0 and had to recover from some sloppy play and poor approaches at the plate before taking over the game. A mid-game dugout meeting with their head coach may have helped flip the switch in the young, but extremely talented Gator squad after they fell into an early hole.
“I just thought our approach was a lot better [in the fourth inning],” Florida freshman designated hitter JJ Schwarz said. “Before that inning, Coach O’Sullivan sat us down and told us just relax. We were playing a little uptight, so we tried to loosen up a bit and stay with our approach.”
While the Gators will feed off this game as they prepare to face an equally hot Virginia team on Monday night, the Miami team in the other dugout will try to wash this game away quickly as they try to fight back from the loser’s bracket against the talented Arkansas Razorbacks.
“We’ve got to bounce back,” Miami head coach Jim Morris said. “We just got one loss, and teams have come back from being down one game. When we’re out here in the World Series that happens. We’ve got to be ready to play. You get days off and you’ve got to recoup and look at it as you’re 0-1 and come back and play the next game.”
The Florida Gators (50-16) will meet the Virginia Cavaliers (40-22) in the winner’s bracket on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. Prior to that the Miami Hurricanes (49-16) will meet the Arkansas Razorbacks (40-24) in the loser’s bracket at 2:00 p.m. with the winner keeping their season alive and the loser moving on to the 2016 season.
Game Two Highlights
Top of the 1st: Florida starting pitcher Logan Shore found himself in a jam in the first inning. The Hurricanes loaded the bases against the Gators right-hander thanks to a walk, a bunt single down the third base line, and an error by Florida second baseman Dalton Guthrie. Miami third baseman David Thompson didn’t let the opportunity go to waste. Thompson, the nation’s RBI leader coming into the game, drove in his 88th run of the season on a sacrifice fly to deep center field that easily scored lead off hitter Ricky Eusebio to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.
Top of the 3rd: Second verse, same as the first for the Hurricanes. A runner on third, one out, David Thompson up, and the Miami third baseman drives another ball to center field for a sacrifice fly. Second baseman George Iskenderian came home to score on the play to put the Hurricanes ahead 2-0.
Bottom of the 3rd: Florida got a run back on balk by Miami starting pitcher Andrew Suarez. Gators freshman catcher Mike Rivera drew a walk to lead off the frame, then advanced to second base on a single by Dalton Guthrie. Rivera reach third when right fielder Ryan Larson laid down a sacrifice bunt towards the first base side. Two batters later, Rivera trotted home on the balk by Suarez to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to 2-1.
Bottom of the 4th: The Gators started the bottom of the fourth inning, trailing Miami, 2-1. By the time we got to the top of the fifth, Florida had a 10-run lead and had tied a College World Series record for most runs in an inning with 11. The Gators sent 16 hitters to the plate against three Miami pitchers. Five hitters reached base twice. First baseman Peter Alonso had an sac fly to give the Gators a 3-2 lead, then in his second plate appearance he missed a home run by a few inches, settling instead for a two-run double off the wall that gave the Gators an 11-2 lead. Third baseman Josh Tobias scored twice and drive in two more. It got so out of control that the scoreboard couldn’t even fit the final tally in. It just looked like Florida had scored a single run in the fourth instead of the record-tying 11. Just like that, a battle of in-state powers was over before the game reached the middle innings.