Virginia’s Season Ends with a 6-2 Loss Against No. 2 Texas

OMAHA, Neb. – Virginia (36-27) suffered a 6-2 loss against No. 2 national seed Texas (49-16) in an elimination game at the 2021 Men’s College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. After a nearly four-hour weather delay, the game started at 10:45 p.m. EST and ended at 1:59 a.m. EST on Friday morning.

After Virginia tied the game up at two in the fifth, Texas scored the game’s final four runs, all with two outs to advance. The Longhorns will play Mississippi State on Friday evening.

Top Performers

• Mike Vasil – 7 IP (t-career-high), 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
• Chris Newell- 1-for-2, HR (5), 2 RBI
• Kyle Teel – 3-for-3, HBP

Key Moments

• Chris Newell (Newtown Square, Pa.) hit his second home run in as many games and third of the NCAA Tournament in the bottom of the fifth inning. The two-run shot was his fifth home run of the season and tied the game up at two.

• Texas took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning on a two-out double from Ivan Melendez.
• Texas loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning, but the Cavaliers got an out at the plate and a strikeout before Zach Zumba hit a 3-2 pitch into left center to clear the bases and put the Longhorns up 6-2.
• Matt Wyatt (Towson, Md.) was credited with the loss, pitching 1.0 innings allowing two runs on two hits, walking three and striking out two.
• Shortstop Nic Kent (Charlottesville, Va.) made an over the shoulder grab in the 1-2-3 third inning and made another highlight play in the ninth to cut down a run at the plate on a ground ball in the hole between third and short.\

Notes 

• The game started at 9:45 p.m. CST / 10:45 EST. The start time was the latest in the College World Series since LSU and Alabama in 1997. It ended at 12:59 a.m.
• Virginia was 6-0 in elimination games during the NCAA Tournament prior to tonight’s loss
• The quality start for Mike Vasil (Wellesley, Mass.) was his eighth of the season and first since May 21 against Boston College. The right-hander fanned eight batters, one shy of his season-high. He retired nine-straight batters from the second to the fifth innings and then sat down eight in a row to finish his outing.

• The Cavaliers pitching staff had 21 quality starts this season. Virginia had won 13-straight games when its starting pitcher was credited with a quality start before dropping games to Mississippi State and Texas.
• Texas scored five of its six runs with two-outs.
• The two errors Virginia committed in the contest were the first it committed in the three College World Series games.
• This was the first-ever meeting between Virginia and Texas. The Cavaliers came into the game with a 4-0 record in the College World Series against non-SEC opponents.
• Virginia ended the year by homering in 16-straight games thanks to Newell’s game-tying blast in the fifth.
• Teel put together his second-straight three-hit performance. Coming into the College World Series he had only one game in which he had more than two hits in a game. Teel finished the season reaching base safely in 26-straight games.