OMAHOOS: Virginia punches CWS ticket, eliminates Duke with 12-2 win

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Posted on Sunday, Jun. 11, 2023, 4:05 pm

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By Scott Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia is headed back to the College World Series next week in Omaha, as the No. 7 seed Cavaliers picked up where they left off Saturday in a convincing, 12-2 victory in Sunday’s Charlottesville Super Regional rubber match against Duke.

UVA’s offense remained in high gear, producing 16 hits — two more than Game Two’s eye-popping total of 14 — while Brian Edgington went the distance on the mound, and when all was said and done, the Elon grad transfer was mobbed by his teammates at the bottom of a victorious dogpile.

Edgington (9-3) tossed his first complete game of the year, allowing a pair of runs on 9 hits while fanning a season-high 11 batters and walking just one (114 pitches). It was the third quality start in a row from the Wahoo pitching staff, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Just like they did Saturday, the Cavaliers (50-13) wasted no time grabbing the lead, this time with three-straight RBI singles by Harrison Didawick, Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan O’Donnell to build a 3-0 advantage. ACC Player of the Year Kyle Teel added to the lead with a two-run single to make it 5-0 in the bottom of the second inning.

With a runner aboard in the top of the sixth, Duke’s Jay Beshears smacked a home run that just made it over the wall, cutting the UVA lead to 5-2, but again, just like Saturday, the Hoos had a quick response their next time up.

Saturday’s hero, Jake Gelof, added to his record-breaking career RBI total with a single that scored O’Ferrall, and then Teel notched his third RBI of the day on a fielder’s choice that brought O’Donnell around to make it 7-2.

The next batter, sophomore first baseman Ethan Anderson, capped the huge inning with a two-run blast on a 3-0 delivery into the left-field bleachers, and Disharoon Park was electric as the fans celebrated a comfortable 9-2 advantage through six.

The Hoos tacked on two more runs in the seventh on an O’Donnell RBI double down the left-field line, followed by another Teel RBI. Second-year designated hitter Anthony Stephan delivered the final blow on the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth, sending one over the right-field fence for his third homer in his last four games.

Teel finished the day 2 for 5 with 4 RBI, while O’Ferrall and O’Donnell combined for 7 hits, 5 runs and 3 RBI at the top of the lineup.

Now it’s onto Omaha for the sixth time in school history (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2021). The Cavaliers will face No. 2 seed Florida at 7 p.m. ET in their opening game in Omaha on Friday (ESPN). The Gators (50-15) swept No. 15 South Carolina in two games this weekend in the Gainesville Super Regional.

TCU (42-22) and Oral Roberts (51-12) will be the other two teams on Virginia’s side of the bracket and will square off at 2 p.m. Friday. The winners will meet at 7 p.m. Sunday, while Friday’s losing teams will play an elimination game at 2 on Sunday.

Game Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

  • With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 50-13 on the year, which marks the program’s fifth 50-win season and first since 2014. In addition to 2014, UVA tallied 50 wins or more in 2013, 2011 and 2010. 
  • The Cavaliers outscored Duke 26-6 in the last two games of the Charlottesville Super Regional. The 30 total runs in the series are the most ever scored by UVA in a Super Regional.
  • Virginia’s five-run second inning marked the 24th time this season UVA has scored five or more runs in a single inning. It was also the most by either team in the Super Regional series between Duke and the Cavaliers. 
  • With a double down the left field line, leadoff hitter O’Ferrall tallied his fifth, first-inning hit in six 2023 NCAA Tournament games. He finished the day 4 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI. He became the tenth Cavalier ever to record a four-hit game in the NCAA Tournament. O’Ferrall has team-best five, four-hit games in 2023.
  • O’Donnell has reached base safely in 21-straight games, the longest active streak on the team. 

 

NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
SUPER REGIONALS
Best of 3
Friday, June 9-Monday, June 12

No. 1 Wake Forest (52-10) vs No. 16 Alabama (43-21)
Wake Forest wins series, 2-0
Game 1: Wake Forest 5, Alabama 4
Game 2: Wake Forest 22, Alabama 5

Texas (42-22) vs No. 8 Stanford (43-18)
Stanford wins series, 2-1
Game 1: Texas 7, Stanford 5
Game 2: Stanford 8, Texas 3
Game 3: Stanford 7, Texas 6

No. 5 LSU (48-15) vs No. 12 Kentucky (40-21)
LSU wins series, 2-0
Game 1: LSU 14, Kentucky 0
Game 2: LSU 8, Kentucky 3

Southern Miss (46-20) vs Tennessee (43-20)
Tennessee wins series, 2-1
Game 1: Southern Miss 5, Tennessee 3
Game 2: Tennessee 8, Southern Miss 4
Game 3: Tennessee 5, Southern Miss 0

No. 2 Florida (50-15) vs No. 15 South Carolina (42-21)
Florida wins series, 2-0
Game 1: Florida 5, South Carolina 4
Game 2: Florida 4, South Carolina 0

No. 7 Virginia (50-13) vs Duke (39-24)
Virginia wins series, 2-1
Game 1: Duke 5, Virginia 4
Game 2: Virginia 14, Duke 4
Game 3: Virginia 12, Duke 2

Oregon (41-22) vs Oral Roberts (51-12)
Oral Roberts wins series, 2-1
Game 1: Oregon 9, Oral Roberts 8
Game 2: Oral Roberts 8, Oregon 7
Game 3: Oral Roberts 11, Oregon 6

No. 14 Indiana State (45-17) vs TCU (42-22)
TCU wins series, 2-0
Game 1: TCU 4, Indiana State 1
Game 2: TCU 6, Indiana State 4