The Virginia baseball team defeated Vanderbilt by a 3-0 final score Tuesday night in Omaha, evening the College World Series Finals at one game apiece. Freshman left-hander Adam Haseley blanked the Commodores for five innings in his first start since May 23, and junior closer Josh Sborz followed with four shutdown frames, spurring the Cavaliers (43-24, 15-15 ACC) to victory.
After sophomore righty Connor Jones and junior southpaws Nathan Kirby and Brandon Waddell took the mound at TD Ameritrade Park on Monday, Friday and Saturday, respectively, Virginia turned to Haseley and Sborz to stave off elimination. The tandem delivered, holding defending champ Vanderbilt (51-20, 20-10) scoreless despite seven hits and five walks.
Sborz threw 54 pitches Saturday night against Florida, but Virginia handed him the ball after Commodore junior right fielder Rhett Wiseman singled against Haseley leading off the sixth with the score knotted at zero. The McLean, Virginia native kept Vanderbilt off the scoreboard from that point forward, offering to the Commodore batters 77 times.
The Cavaliers mustered their offense in the sixth’s bottom half, when they loaded the bases against Vanderbilt junior lefty Philip Pfeifer with two gone. Freshman second baseman Ernie Clement and senior right fielder Thomas Woodruff notched run-scoring singles, with Woodruff’s bringing in two runs and chasing Pfeifer from the ballgame.
The Commodores threatened in the bottom of the ninth with a single and a walk, but Sborz shut the door with three consecutive outs, the last a swinging strikeout of sophomore second baseman Nolan Rogers.
Clement and Woodruff — the eighth and ninth hitters in the Cavalier batting order — starred at the plate with three hits apiece. Freshman first baseman Pavin Smith, junior left fielder Kevin Doherty and junior center fielder Joe McCarthy each scored a run for Virginia.
The Cavaliers and Commodores will play for the national championship Wednesday at 8 p.m.
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