Virginia Baseball One Win From NCAA Super Regionals

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Despite losing their first game of the NCAA baseball tournament, the Virginia baseball team is only one win away from advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals. Virginia won three consecutive elimination games across Saturday and Sunday to force a do-or-die game against top-seeded Old Dominion on Monday (ESPNU, 7pm).

Virginia Results – 2021 NCAA Tournament

  • South Carolina 4, Virginia 3 (Fri.)
  • Virginia 13, Jacksonville 8 (Sat.)
  • Virginia 3, South Carolina 2 (Sun.)
  • Virginia 8, Old Dominion 3 (Sun.)

Virginia stayed alive by outslugging and eliminating Jacksonville on Saturday, then followed with a magical Sunday filled with several amazing pitching performances. During their 3-2 win over host South Carolina, the Hoos got five innings of two-hit ball from starter Matt Wyatt, who had only started one game all season. After the game, he said he was only informed of his opportunity the night prior. Stephen Schoch closed out the game for Virginia with one of his best performances of the season; Big Donkey earned his eighth save of the year, striking out five batters in 2.1 hitless innings. Of course, after shutting the door, he entertained the masses.

Offensively, Alex Tappen continued his hot hitting with his fourth jack of the year.

By eliminating the Gamecocks, the Hoos earned their way to the regional final against No. 11 Old Dominion, who hadn’t lost yet. The Hoos sent senior flamethrower Griff McGarry to the hill, where he struck out the first six batters of the game. After getting into trouble in the fourth, junior Brandon Neeck took over, and that’s when things really got intense. Neeck continued McGarry’s strikeout show to the tune of 16 K’s over 5.2 innings of relief, a single-game program record. Combined, the pair of arms struck out 24 of the 27 batters, a single-game record.

Virginia won the game 8-3, with Devin Ortiz leading the way at the plate. The senior hit his first homer since May 2nd and finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Catcher Logan Michaels also drove in two for UVA.

With the win over ODU on Sunday night, both teams have one loss heading into Monday night’s Game 7. Whoever comes out on top will win the Columbia regional and advance to the round of 16. Eight teams have already clinched, while the remaining eight will be decided on Monday. Here’s a look at the picture heading into Monday.

Teams Who Have Clinched Super Regional Berth

  • NC State
  • Texas Tech
  • Notre Dame
  • Arizona
  • Vanderbilt
  • East Carolina
  • Texas
  • Tennessee

Monday NCAA Tournament TV Schedule

  • South Florida vs. South Alabama (resumes in 5th) | 12 p.m. ET (South Alabama must win twice)
  • No. 7 Mississippi State vs. Campbell | 12 p.m. ET, ESPNU (Campbell must win twice)
  • No. 12 Ole Miss vs. Southern Miss | 1 p.m. ET, ESPN2
  • Oregon State vs. Dallas Baptist | 4 p.m. ET, ESPNU
  • No. 1 Arkansas vs. Nebraska | 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
  • No. 11 Old Dominion vs. Virginia | 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
  • No. 9 Stanford vs. UC Irvine | 10 p.m. ET, ESPNU
  • No. 14 Oregon vs. LSU | 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2