It's official. After a slow start, the Virginia baseball bandwagon is pulling out of the station. And in a Mike Wilbon-esque move, I'm jumping back on, after mid-season doubts had me chilling on the platform.
The Cavaliers are kicking into their highest cylinder, with the regular season starting to wind down, and the ACC and NCAA tournaments on the horizon. Virginia's manhandling of Georgia Tech (ranked No. 4 nationally) in a three-game sweep this weekend has revitalized my faith in this team's potential. Coach Brian O'Connor's feisty squad has fine-tuned its "small-ball" approach to the point where the Cavaliers can beat talented teams, such as the Yellow Jackets. The pitchers are pitching terrifically, and the offense is finally achieving the level of production necessary for O'Connor's philosophy to succeed.
This turnaround began two weekends ago in the rolling hills of western South Carolina. After losing the series opener at Clemson, 13-4, Virginia showed a lot of heart by rebounding with inspired play in the next two games. In Saturday's game, the Cavaliers played well enough to win but lost in heart-breaking fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cavaliers were undeterred and salvaged a win in the series finale. Interviewing several of the players after the game, I could sense that the victory meant more to them than just one notch in the win column. The seeds of change had been sown.
One has to give much credit to O'Connor. Following the Friday night loss at Clemson, O'Connor had a team meeting in the outfield that lasted longer than usual post-game meetings. The coach was frustrated and felt that his team needed to be reminded of what it takes to succeed in the ACC.
Even after some tough conference losses, O'Connor maintained steady optimism that this team could succeed against first-rate ACC opponents. Baseball is a game of inches, and O'Connor said he thought that, many times, his team was more unlucky than lacking in talent. O'Connor's faith was rewarded against the Yellow Jackets, when the breaks finally seemed to go in Virginia's favor.
O'Connor's pitching staff has gelled into a fearsome cohesive unit capable of shutting down superb offenses. Georgia Tech came into the series with the No. 1 offense in the ACC, boasting a .344 team batting average. Six different Virginia pitchers combined to limit the potent Georgia Tech offense to only five runs on 23 hits over the three-game series. Even freshman hurler Robert Poutier, normally a weekday starter, stepped in for Sunday's start and pitched five innings of solid baseball, improving his record to 3-1, before yielding to Sean Doolittle.
Doolittle has become a star for the Cavaliers. With him pitching in the set-up role and Casey Lambert filling the closer spot, Virginia has a lights-out relief pitching tandem that reminds me of Mariano Rivera-John Wetteland for the 1996 New York Yankees. Lambert accumulated his 10th save of the season Sunday, having broken Virginia's single-season save record Saturday.
Doolittle pitched four innings of relief in game two of Saturday's doubleheader and struck out eight. He continued his dominance Sunday, adding three more innings of relief while surrendering no runs on three hits. Doolittle also serves as Virginia's cleanup hitter and leads the team with eight homeruns.
I also have to give credit to senior second baseman Kyle Werman. The diminutive second baseman has stepped up his offensive game recently. Known more for his defense and leadership skills than his offense, Werman has hit three triples over the past week and got the game-winning RBI Sunday with a fifth inning single to left-field.
So don't miss out on your opportunity to hop on board the Virginia baseball express. If you do, we'll be partying in Omaha without you.
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