Wahoos' Next CWS Challenge: Arkansas on Wednesday
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OMAHA, Neb. The Virginia baseball team continues its road through Omaha at 7 p.m. Wednesday, taking on Arkansas at Rosenblatt Stadium in an elimination game at the College World Series. The first-ever matchup between the two programs will be televised live on ESPN2.
The winner of the Arkansas-Virginia game will advance to face LSU at 2 p.m. Friday.
Virginia (49-14-1) staved off elimination from the CWS yesterday with the program’s first-ever CWS win, 7-5 over Cal State Fullerton. The Cavaliers will be playing in their 65th game this season, tying a school record which was set by the 1996 team.
Arkansas (40-23) won its first CWS game since 1989 with a 10-6 victory over Cal State Fullerton. Monday, the Razorbacks fell into the consolation bracket after suffering a 9-1 loss to LSU. The Hogs went 14-15 in SEC play but got hot in the postseason, winning six straight games including sweeps of the Norman Regional and Tallahassee Super Regional until the LSU defeat. Andy Watkins has been the Razorbacks’ hottest hitter, going 17-for-29 (.586) with four homers and 18 RBI in the NCAA tournament.
As a team, UVa has broken nine team school records this year. Seven have come on the offensive end: at bats (2295), hits (751), runs (504), doubles (134), triples (28), runs batted in (465), total bases (1112). Two have come on the mound: innings pitched (571.0) and strikeouts (582).
After putting up a career-high four hits Saturday vs. LSU, Keith Werman followed it up with two hits and two RBI Monday. He is 6-for-9 in the CWS and 10-for-23 in the NCAA tourney. Since being inserted into the starting lineup May 10 vs. Duke, Werman is batting a team-best .452 in 15 games (11 starts). UVa is 12-3 in those games.
Noting the Cal State Fullerton Game
With the victory, UVa extended its school record with 49 wins, a total which is third nationally (LSU 53, Arizona State 50).
Virginia improved to 6-2 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament and is now 3-0 in elimination contests.
Virginia eliminated both of the Big West’s national seeds from the NCAA Tournament (No. 6 UC Irvine, No. 2 Cal St. Fullerton).
UVa, which entered the game third nationally in ERA (3.23), is 45-4 this season when holding opponents to five runs or fewer.
Virginia hit 7-for-14 (.500) with runners on base after going 2-for-16 (.125) in the Saturday loss to LSU.
The Cavaliers’ seven runs were their most in an NCAA tournament game this year (previous high was five on four occasions). It was UVa’s highest run total since scoring 11 runs against Duke in the ACC Tournament.
Andrew Carraway improved to 9-1 this season with his 20th career win. His nine wins this season and 20 wins in his career both tie for sixth on UVa’s single-season and career lists. He has made 73 appearances which ranks fourth on UVa’s career list.
Danny Hultzen’s stolen base in the seventh inning was the first SB allowed by Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA tournament.