NCAA DIVISION I COLLEGE BASEBALL WORLD SERIES

The University of Virginia has been to the Division I College Baseball World Series before, but this time it stands out as the proverbial, one of these teams that is unlike the other seven in the field at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.

These seven schools have all been ranked 18th or better, each suffering 18 losses or fewer. All have impressive records, 3rd ranked Tennessee with 50 wins. But the Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference arrived with a 34-24 record, had faced elimination six times in the tournament and survived each one, the most recent keyed by a 7th inning grand slam home run from freshman Kyle Teel.

Virginia finished fourth in its conference, were not ranked, but has won 13 of its last 17, had gotten better pitching, better hitting, better fielding, and renewed confidence. And so can it keep the good times rolling long enough to score at least one win in Omaha?

Well, it did, and it happened quickly with Sunday’s surprise 6-0 zip over Tennessee to gain the winner’s bracket and line up next against 7th-ranked Mississippi State (46-16) in Tuesday’s doubleheader. And they take the field in the closer after both Tennessee and Texas meet in the double-elimination opener with the loser going home.

In the other Sunday game of record strikeouts that totaled 33, Bulldogs’ righthander Will Bednar fanned 15 in 16 innings in a 2-1 triumph over 2nd-ranked Texas. He walked one and gave up one hit, and now the Longhorns take a 47-16 mark into the survival game versus the stunned Volunteers (50-18).

It was such a jarring defeat for a Tennessee team that went undefeated through the Region and Super Regionals it hosted that head coach Tony Vitello spoke to his team afterwards and then proceeded to walk from end to end in his dugout, collecting discarded plastic water bottles and, scooped up some trash, tossed everything into the trash can and through the tunnel and out of sight.

Virginia just outplayed Tennessee. It scored three times in the third, twice in the fifth, and once more in the sixth. Most of the damage was done by freshman Logan Michaels, who hit his first home run of the season in the third, doubled in two more in the fifth. and singled in the final tally.

As for the Southeastern Conference Vols, they had a frustrating time, especially on the bases and with ace Chad Dallas (11-2) getting pounded in the first six frames. On the base paths, they had two runners on with no out in the first, fifth and sixth innings, and had three base runners on third four times.

And that equaled zero runs and the loser’s bracket. The same with the Big 12 Longhorns. Their hurler, Ty Madden, whiffed 10, walked two and allowed six hits in seven innings. Down 2-0, Texas closed the gap with a sole home run in the last of the ninth, but the SEC Bulldogs did the celebrating.

The Saturday opening games had unseeded but pesky North Carolina State of the ACC (35-18) gain a 6-0 advantage over 9th-ranked Stanford (38-15), saw the Cardinal close to within 6-4, and then NC State tacked on four more runs in a 12-4 victory that moved the unseeded Tar Heels into the Monday winner’s bracket versus Vanderbilt.

The 4th-ranked Commodores (45-15) led 6-0 before 5th-ranked Arizona (45-16)  forced a 6-6 tie, and it went 12 innings following a bases-loaded, two out single up the middle by sophomore  nip 5th-ranked Arizona (45-16), 7-6, on a two out, bases loaded single up the middle by Jayson Gonzales. That was after Vandy left the bags full with one down in the eighth, and in the ninth with two out.

The schedule with TV Mountain Standard times:

MONDAY — 3 p.m. Vanderbilt versus North Carolina State in winner’s bracket

                    5 p.m. Arizona versus Stanford in loser’s bracket.

TUESDAY — 3 p.m. Virginia versus Mississippi State in winner’s bracket.

                     5 p.m. Tennessee versus Texas in loser’s bracket.