Virginia vs Ole Miss - NCAA Regional Baseball Recap

(No. 5 National Seed) Virginia 13, Ole Miss 7 – Virginia earns Sunday afternoon / elimination round bye.

On a weekend when the Atlantic Coast Conference is kicking tail and taking names in the college baseball world, the Virginia Cavaliers are making sure they’re not getting left behind.

One day after pounding Virginia Commonwealth for 15 runs in the opener of their home-field regional, the Cavs crushed yet another pitching staff by rolling up 13 runs against the young men from Mississippi. John Barr went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, while Jarrett Parker and Tyler Cannon each scored three runs as Virginia brought the heavy lumber – make that, aluminum – to the reeling Rebels’ pitching staff.

Ole Miss twirlers got taken for a ride at Davenport Field, as UVA bypassed the elimination stage and moved into the championship round, which begins Sunday night. Virginia – like the other winners’ bracket victors on regional weekend – will basically get two chances to defeat one opponent. If the Cavaliers fail to win their Sunday night game, they’ll get a second chance on Monday against either Ole Miss or St. John’s (whoever wins Sunday’s midday elimination game).

Cavalier ace Danny Hultzen improved to 10-1 and picked up the win, pitching six innings and allowing six runs on seven hits. That kind of scoreline wouldn’t ordinarily get it done, but on a night when your bats produce 11 runs in the first four innings, you don’t have to dominate at all. Branden Kline threw the final three innings for the Hoos, allowing just one run and recording a very cheap save. Ole Miss starter Aaron Barrett fell to 7-5 with the loss, allowing seven runs (three earned) on six hits in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

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This game started innocently enough, as the two teams plated three runs apiece in the first two and a half innings. Then the Cavaliers took over in their next two times at bat.

UVA rang up the same crooked number – a fat “4” spot – in the bottom of the third and the bottom of the fourth. In the third, three different Cavalier hitters knocked in runs, with the fourth run scoring on an error by Barrett, a besieged pitcher who didn’t help his cause with his defense.

In the fourth, the Cavaliers kept on coming at the retreating Rebels. Base hits by Barr, John Hicks, and Steven Proscia produced three more runs, with an error by UM outfielder Tim Ferguson plating a fourth UVA run. Before the visitors from the Southeastern Conference knew what hit them, Virginia owned an 11-3 lead. The Cavaliers would never be remotely threatened for the rest of the contest. 

This authoritative performance underscores the extent to which the ACC is winning baseball’s conference strength argument. Virginia’s 28-run total in two days exceeds what Miami has done (26 runs) in the Hurricanes’ home-field regional. Florida State is also 2-0 in its regional, and so is Georgia Tech. Clemson is a 2-0 team as well.

ACC apparently stands for “absolutely crushing competitors” on this first weekend of June. Virginia simply hopes it has one more big game from its bats – then the Cavs will be playing in the super regionals.

By: Matt Zemek
ACC Fans Staff Writer