Virginia Heading to Fifth College World Series in Grand Fashion

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Freshman Kyle Teel (Mahwah, N.J.) hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to propel Virginia (35-25) to a 5-2 victory over Dallas Baptist (41-18) in game three of the Columbia super regional on Monday (June 14). The Cavaliers clinch a spot in the College World Series for the fifth time in program history and the first time since winning the National Championship in 2015.

On its road to Omaha, Virginia went 6-0 in elimination games. The grand slam was the first in UVA postseason history.

Sophomore Matt Wyatt (Towson, Md.) earned the victory after pitching 5.2 innings of scoreless relief. The righthander matched a career-high with eight strikeouts and improved to 4-1 on the year. After the monumental Teel home run, he tossed an eight-pitch top of the eighth. He then retired the first two batters of the ninth and after a two-out DBU single, induced the series-clinching fly out to center.

Teel, who struck out with the tying run on third in the fifth, would not be denied in his second opportunity. DBU brought a lefty, Peyton Sherlin, to face UVA lefthanded hitting Max Cotier (New Milford, Conn.) and the aforementioned Teel with two outs. Cotier kept the rally alive by beating the shift with a sharp ground ball to the right side of the second base bag which loaded the bases. Teel battled and eventually drove a 2-2 breaking ball over the centerfield wall. The home run was the first year’s ninth of the year, tied for the most on the team.

The game was littered with outstanding defensive efforts on both sides including a catch by Chris Newell (Newtown Square, Pa.) to rob Andres Sosa of a home run in the seventh inning. Newell also squeezed the game’s final out in the top of the ninth.

DBU’s Jackson Glenn put the Patriots ahead the third inning with a two-run homer in the third inning. It was DBU’s 101^st home run of the season. The lead was cut in half an inning later by a solo shot off the bat of Nic Kent (Charlottesville, Va.) who was 2-for-4 with a run scored in the contest.

Virginia starting pitcher Nate Savino (Sterling, Va.) allowed just the home run to Glenn in 3.1 innings of work. Making his first start of the NCAA tournament, Savino struck out three and walked one in the no-decision.

The Cavaliers will square off against No. 3 national seed Tennessee on Sunday (June 20) at 1 p.m. CST on ESPN2. Virginia will be in a four-team bracket with Tennessee, Texas and the winner of the Mississippi State/Notre Dame game in the College World Series. The Cavaliers will be the only three-seed remaining in the eight-team CWS field.

Additional Notes

• Virginia has hit 14 home runs in eight NCAA Tournament games.
• The come-from-behind victory was Virginia’s 14^th of the 2021 season. All but two have come after April 6.
• Including Teel’s on Monday, Virginia has hit four grand slams this year, tied for the most in a single season in school history.