College World Series Finals Game 2: Virginia 3, Vanderbilt 0
Adam Haseley came through for Virginia on Tuesday night (Brad Williams/WBR)
Freshman Adam Haseley had not pitched in a game since May 23rd. Senior Thomas Woodruff hadn’t had an official at-bat since May 16th. On Tuesday night, Virginia head coach, and former pitcher and coach of the Creighton Bluejays, inserted both into different roles in a must-win Game Two of the College World Series Finals. The two unlikely contributors propelled Virginia over reigning champion Vanderbilt to force a winner-take-all game on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
Haseley, a left-hander on the mound who normally patrols center field, held the Commodores scoreless over a career-high five-plus innings. He allowed four singles and walked three batters, but when he needed to make a pitch he made a pitch, holding a loaded Vanderbilt offense to 1-for-6 with runners on base against him.
“I’m a big believer that to be in this position to compete for a national championship you need guys to rise to the occasion that maybe hadn’t yet or what people didn’t expect,” O’Connor said. “I think if you go back and look at the history of this event, there has been players that have emerged and got big hits or pitched quality inning for their team, and certainly Adam Haseley rose to that occasion on the mound and just gave us a high-quality start.”
With Haseley shutting down the Commodores, Virginia’s offense, particularly the bottom of the order, came through with all the run support they would need in the bottom of the sixth inning. After sophomore catcher Matt Thaiss, senior third baseman Kenny Towns, and their 15 combined home runs and 130 combined runs batted in were retired to begin the frame, the Cavaliers loaded the bases on two singles and a fielding error by Vanderbilt junior first baseman Zander Wiel.
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That set up the heroics of Virginia freshman second baseman Ernie Clement and right fielder Thomas Woodruff. After taking the first pitch from Vanderbilt starting pitcher Philip Pfeifer for a ball, Clement slapped a single through the left side of the infield to bring home freshman first baseman Pavin Smith. In the next at-bat, Woodruff, lined a two-run single into center field to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead.
The Virginia senior, who had recorded 12 hits in just 12 starts this season, earned the starting role in the nine-hole due to Haseley being called on to pitch, but he came through with a 3-for-4 day at the plate when the Cavaliers needed him most.
“I honestly didn’t feel as nervous as I expected to,” Woodruff said. “I was kind of relaxed, just trying to enjoy it. This, or I guess now tomorrow, could have been my last college game, and I just tried to go out there and enjoy it.”
When describing his seldom-used senior, O’Connor called back to a thought that those who work hard and stay patient will see the results in the end, just as Woodruff did on Tuesday night on the college baseball’s biggest stage.
“This guy has been as unselfish, and as much of a team player as you could possibly be for four years,” O’Connor said. “I really believe that at the most important time you get rewarded for that, and certainly it showed true today.”
With a 3-0 lead, the Cavaliers leaned on junior closer Josh Sborz to finish the deal. It wasn’t always easy, as Vanderbilt battled with their at-bats to make Sborz’s pitch count climb, but in the end the 74th overall pick in the MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers held the Commodores off the scoreboard over his four innings of work, striking out three batters to earn his third win of the 2015 College World Series.
“I thought Sborz was good,” Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said. “He’s kind of a bend-but-don’t-break kid. Anytime he got in trouble he made big pitches to get himself out of it. You can tell he’s been out there before. He’s advanced, and you have to give him credit.”
Every game Josh Sborz has pitched in during this College World Series has come against Southeastern Conference opposition. Prior to tonight’s outing, he struck out five hitters over three scoreless innings to finish off a 5-3 win over Arkansas in the opener. He followed that up with a six-out save in Virginia’s 1-0 win over Florida, then finished off the Gators again with four scoreless to send the Cavaliers to the finals.
Including last season, Sborz is 4-0 with one save, 15 strikeouts, and a 0.47 earned run average in 19 career innings at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
“Since he has been here, and really specifically the last two years, every time we’ve asked this guy to pitch a big ballgame for us, whether it be Game 3 of the Super Regional last year against Maryland, whenever it’s been this year, numerous times last year, he has taken his game to a different level,” O’Connor said of his junior right-hander. “You can see how talented he is and he’s just a model of consistency. In order to have a chance to win this thing, you need somebody like that to really step up, and he’s done the job all year, but certainly during these two weeks he’s been really exceptional.”
The Commodores (51-20) and Cavaliers (43-24) will now meet once again in a Game 3 to see who will be the 2015 national champion. Last year, Vanderbilt won the winner-take-all game, 3-2, to win their first title. Tomorrow, they will try to get their turn at a dog pile on the mound to end the season. Regardless of what’s at stake, O’Connor says the Cavaliers will use the same approach to prepare for the task.
“Tomorrow will be no different than any game that we’ve played here in Omaha this year,” he said. “I’m going to say it again, this team has earned the right to play another ballgame, and that’s how they will treat it. I don’t think they’ll put any more into it than they have at this point. Certainly we’re going to have to play great baseball to beat a great Vanderbilt club. They’ll just continue to go out there and play the best they can, and hopefully in the end have a chance to win the ballgame.”
Game 2 Highlights
Bottom of the 6th: Like last night, the Commodores and Cavaliers were locked in a scoreless battle entering the middle innings. Similar to what Vanderbilt did last night from the home dugout, Virginia broke the tie with two out singles by freshman first baseman Pavin Smith and junior left fielder Kevin Doherty to keep the inning alive after Vanderbilt starting pitcher Philip Pfeifer retired the first two hitters. A ground ball to first base by junior center fielder Joe McCarthy was bobbled by Vanderbilt’s Zander Wiel to load the bases, then freshman second baseman Ernie Clement put the Cavaliers on the board with an RBI single into left field. Senior right fielder Thomas Woodruff, already with two hits on the night, then stepped up and brought home Doherty and McCarthy with a single into center field that made it 3-0.