Virginia could not have asked for two better players to be tossed into tense late-inning situations in an elimination game. Pitcher Josh Sborz and third baseman Kenny Towns, after all, have been through many postseason pressure-cookers at UVa. With a return trip to the College World Series Finals on the line Saturday, both players delivered in a 5-4 win against Florida.
The Cavaliers advance with the victory to face Vanderbilt in a best¬-of-three championship series that begins Monday at 8 p.m. in Omaha.
“You all are going to think I’m just hitting repeat here,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “But this team has, in this postseason run, just been amazing. The toughness and the resiliency of this group has been really, really impressive, the heart that they’ve continued to show is a lot of fun to watch. And this game is kind of a small microcosm of what our postseason’s been like in that Florida is a tremendous opponent. I’ll tell you, what they have coming back next year, they’re going to be really, really good. And we just feel fortunate to have found a way to win. And our guys just wouldn’t quit. They would go up and we’d battle back and find a way to drive in a run or two. And the pitching plan that we had discussed over the last 24 hours fortunately worked. We were going to try to get five or six out of Brandon Waddell and then turn it over to Josh Sborz. And both of those guys did a terrific job and just really excited that we have another opportunity to play and another opportunity to compete for a National Championship.”
Sborz has more appearances in the NCAA Tournament – lucky No. 13 came Saturday – than any pitcher in Virginia history so when the coaches called his name against Florida, he wasn’t fazed. Sborz entered the game in the sixth inning and tossed four innings of scoreless baseball while allowing just three hits. That’s the second longest relief appearance of his career. He faced Florida twice this week and allowed no hits and no runs in six total innings; the Gators ripped off 39 runs against other pitchers in Omaha.
In fact, Sborz has pitched nine innings at this College World Series against Arkansas and Florida and has not allowed a run. He has given up just four hits. His only blemish of any sort in Omaha was when an inherited runner scored Saturday when he issued a walk and gave up a single. That’s impressive work against any opponent in any situation, much less at the CWS against that level of competition.
The biggest moment for Sborz in a game tied at 4-4 may have been in the seventh inning. Harrison Bader led off with a single and stole second base as part of 4-for-5 outing overall. With two outs and the potential go-ahead run in scoring position, Sborz struck out JJ Schwarz, the team’s RBI leader, on a full count pitch to end the inning.
That eventually propelled Sborz into the winning pitcher role when the Hoos scored late to take the lead and win the game. For Sborz, it’s his fifth win since May 10. Starting pitcher Brandon Waddell pitched five innings and allowed four runs on six hits.
“When you pitch a team like that you’ve just got to manage,” Sborz said. “I mean, they’re so good at hitting that you’ve just got to try to spread out their hits as best as possible. In that first inning I gave them that extra base that allowed them to score with a walk. And I think the key is really slowing it down and just trying to defend your way out of things.”
While Sborz helped the cause on the mound, Towns came through with the bat. In the seventh inning with two runners on base and one out, Florida intentionally walked Matt Thaiss to load the bases. That shifted all the pressure to Towns’ shoulders with the game tied at 4-4.
The senior lifted a game-winning sacrifice fly to the edge of the warning track in right field. That means Towns is 7 for 8 with 17 RBIs this year with the bases loaded. He leads the team this season with 66 RBIs, including two others in this game against Florida with what was then a go-ahead double in the fifth inning.
Towns has appeared in 29 NCAA Tournament games with 27 starts. He has 33 hits and 27 RBIs in those games. Those are all Virginia records.
“When you think about it, it’s a smart play” to load the bases there, Towns said. “It’s to set up the double play. And obviously Matt’s been a very dangerous hitter and helps us out a lot. So I wouldn’t take any offense to it or think anything of it. I was just happy to be able to get an opportunity to drive in another run.”
