Virginia starting pitcher Brandon Waddell paced back and forth in the bullpen as tension mounted in the ninth inning of Saturday’s Super Regional. The 50th start of his career boiled down to a bases loaded, nobody out situation as freshman Ernie Clement stepped into the batter’s box. UVa trailed 4-3.
“I was out in the bullpen. It’s kind of roomy out there compared to the dugout and I was pacing,” Waddell said with a grin. “Back and forth. Head turned toward the field, away from the field. Didn’t really know what to do. We were in a big situation. We have confidence in all of our guys so we knew the big hit was coming anytime, it was just a matter of when. It’s nerve-racking not being able to go out there and help or do anything about it, but it’s exciting. It’s a rush like no other. That’s the best way to explain it.”
Clement, on the other hand, said he was actually pretty loose in the situation because the team had decided the pressure was on the more experienced Maryland team to advance this weekend. When the count ran to 2-2 against Terrapin closer Kevin Mooney, Clement’s mind flashed back to the scouting report, which indicated Mooney’s go-to pitch was a breaking ball.
When that exact pitch came out of Mooney’s hand, Clement locked on and smacked the ball into the left field grass to send Davenport Field into euphoria with a 5-4 walk-off win. Clement was 2 for 15 in the NCAA Tournament entering Game 2 of the Charlottesville Super Regional.
“I definitely had to be selective, he was a little sporadic with his pitches, but he gave me something to handle with two strikes and I took advantage I guess,” Clement said.
Clement had plenty of high school success to draw from as Brighton High School’s career record-holder for plate appearances (329), batting average (.464), singles (87), doubles (34) and stolen bases (38). He earned All New York State recognition three times in his career.
Clement even had been in position to win a baseball game in the final at-bat before, but not in front of 5,000 screaming fans with a College World Series berth on the line. Besides, he actually didn’t come through in that situation earlier in his career, making this moment that much sweeter.
“This is the greatest feeling ever,” Clement said. “I’ve been in that situation and I didn’t pull through for my team, but I forget all of that now.”
The Hoos secured their fourth trip to the College World Series with that swing of the bat, immediately bringing back memories of 2011. In the Charlottesville Super Regional that year, Virginia trailed 2-1 with two outs in the third and decisive game. Chris Taylor stepped to the plate with one strike and slivered a shot up the middle that lifted the Hoos to the 3-2 win.
Clement has watched that video plenty of times and it didn’t really sink in yet that his magic moment may be on loop for other viewers for years to come.
“I’ve watched it a ton. It’s awesome,” Clement said. “He actually came by and took groundballs with us for a couple of days I think. I watched it even more after that. He’s awesome and that play will go down in history obviously.”
Virginia coach Brian O’Connor remembered something else from that magical June 13 afternoon too, though. And it applied to Clement’s big moment too. Earlier in that game against Irvine, the score stood tied at 1-1 entering the ninth inning. Sean Madigan singled to open the inning and the Anteaters looked to move him over with a bunt, but Virginia tried to cut down the lead runner with a throw to second base. Covering the bag? Taylor. He couldn’t corral the wide throw from John Hicks and the ball bounced into the outfield, which left Madigan on third base with no outs. He scored the go-ahead run. Taylor shook that off when it came time for the iconic hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.
On Saturday against Maryland, Clement faced a similar situation in the ninth inning. Earlier in the game, Clement tried to steal second base when a pitch bounced away from catcher Kevin Martir. In both cases, however, he got an unsure read and then made a poor slide. Both times, he got thrown out. He erased those mistakes with his hit in the ninth, though.
“He made some mistakes early on, but he didn’t hang his head, he didn’t feel sorry for himself and his teammates didn’t get on him about it,” O’Connor said. “That is a sign of maturity. If Ernie sits there and pouts and feels sorry for himself, he doesn’t do what he did in the ninth inning. What an unbelievable characteristic to have. It’s like Chris Taylor. Remember back in ’11, the ball trickled off his glove and went into right-centerfield. He felt terrible about that and thought he cost his team the game. Then he gets up and gets the game-winning hit. I think it is a good example of what our team is about.”
