The Virginia baseball concluded its sixth and shortest trip to the College World Series with a 4-3 loss to TCU on Sunday. Entering the game, the Hoos and Horned Frogs were the only programs with more than five CWS appearances to have never gone 0-2. With the win, TCU now stands alone as the only team with five or more appearances to have never gone 0-2.
UVA suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since it was swept in South Bend by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (April 21-23).
TCU coach Kirk Saarloos called the Hoos and awesome club and said, “We just outlasted them.”
“Obviously, have a ton of respect for head coach Brian [O’Connor], Kevin [McMullen], and Drew [Dickinson], in terms of what they do with their program,” he added. “There’s no secret to why they’re here every single year. They’re talented and well-coached.”
Connely Early took the start for Virginia and much as Nick Parker did Friday evening, the Army transfer grinded though a five inning start while giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits, walking 3, and recording 2 punchouts. But the Horned Frogs ran up Early’s pitch count and he departed the game averaging 20.2 pitches per inning.
O’Connor praised Early for the workmanlike effort but also praised the TCU hitting plan that lengthened Connely’s start.
“Connelly Early gave us a nice start,” O’Connor said. “They had a good approach against him in the first inning, probably as good as we’ve seen all year. That’s a credit to them. He grinded, kept us in the game, gave us a chance to win.”
Early left the game with Virginia trailing 2-1 heading into the top of the sixth. He gave way to fellow starter Brian Edgington, who worked 2.2 innings and allowed 2 earned runs, while fanning 2 and dishing out 2 walks. Freshman reliever Bradley Hodges struck out the lone batter he faced in the end of the 8th and after allowing a single to open the 9th, left with a runner on second and 1 out after a sacrifice bunt. Hodges turned it over to closer Jay Woolfolk, who retired the two hitters he faced on 4 pitches.
Horned Frog right fielder Austin Davis said they reviewed the scouting report prior to the game and their approach was to push Early’s pitch count up.
“It was to grind out at-bats and wait until you get your pitch. If you don’t get your pitch, just foul it off,” Davis said. “It was just about being mentally tough and staying in the box, and it was your box when you stepped into the box.”
Virgina had a final opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Kyle Teel struck out and Ethan Anderson grounded out to short to bring Casey Saucke to the plate. The Cavalier right fielder lined a shot to center and aggressively tried to turn it into a double. The TCU center field bobbled the ball and Saucke got to second on the error.
With the tying run on second, the torch was passed to Anthony Stephan. Virginia’s designated hitter hit a shot that offered some hope to the Wahoo faithful but it tracked foul. Stephan offered at the next two pitches and missed, ending the at-bat, the game, and UVA’s season.
The discussion regarding what happened to the nation’s premier offense in Omaha and the back-and-forth over what went into the pitching decisions Friday night is part of the game. It’s what fans love about baseball.
Neither the offense nor Virginia’s pitching measured up to what fans had seen throughout the season and during NCAA Tournament Regional and Super Regional play.
The Hoos came into the College World Series ranked first in batting average and doubles per game and in the top 10 in on-base percentage, scoring, earned run average, and strikeout-to-walk ratio. They were also No. 16 in slugging percentage.
In short, UVA entered the CWS boasting elite batting average and ERA numbers and even more impressive NCAA Tournament numbers.
| UVA Hitting | Regular Season | NCAA Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| Batting Average | .334 | .342 |
| Slugging | .527 | .557 |
| On-Base Percentage | .431 | .426 |
| Runs Per Game | 9.12 | 9.16 |
| UVA Pitching | Regular Season | NCAA Tournament |
| ERA | 3.91 | 2.00 |
| Opponent Batting Average | .250 | .239 |
| Runs/Game | 3.84 | 2.66 |
Florida brought a .293 batting average (76th) into the CWS and a 7.9 runs per game average. The Gators’ slugging percentage was 8th in the college baseball at .545 and their on-base percentage was .393 (77th). TCU’s slugging came in at .489 (56th) and their on-base percentage was 42nd with a .401. The Horned Frogs’ .299 batting average was 41st in the country and their runs per game average of 8 ranked 32nd.
Comparing the Hoos’ two game CWS numbers with the above chart shows that Virginia’s pitching, while not up to the regular season and the NCAA Tournament play standards, held the two opposing offenses in check based on their season stats. Overall, Virginia’s starting pitchers are now 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA in 52.0 NCAA Tournament innings this year, compared to an 0-2 record and 5.04 ERA in 19.2 bullpen innings in Omaha.
What is less subtle is the fact that the offense is way below regular season and NCAA Tournament standards. As you look at the combined totals in the right side of the graphic you see a .209 batting average for the two CWS games, a .300 on-base percentage, 2-17 with runners in scoring position (RISP), and a .100 batting average in 2-out hitting, which had been a season-long strength of the club.
| CWS Stats | Florida | TCU | TCU/Florida Totals | UVA Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs Per Game | 6.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| Left On Base | 8 | 11 | 19 | 8 |
| Hitting | 9-34 (.265) | 12-35 (.343) | 21-69 (.304) | 13-62 (.209) |
| 2-Out Hitting | 5-11 (.454) | 4-12 (.333) | 9-23 (.391) | 2-20 (.100) |
| RISP | 4-9 (.444) | 4-13 (.308) | 8-22 (.364) | 2-17 (.112) |
| Leadoff Hitting | 4-10 (.400) | 3-10 (.300) | 7-20 (.350) | 8-20 (.444) |
| W/Runners On | 3-13 (.231) | 5-18 (.278) | 8-31 (.258) | 6-25 (.240) |
| Slugging % | .741 | .593 | .667 | .522 |
| On-Base % | .414 | .381 | .397 | .300 |
| UVA ERA | 6.59 | 4.0 | - | 5.23 |
Virginia’s run per game numbers dropped from 9.12 to 4, slugging percentage dipped down to .522, while on-base percentage took a massive dive from .431 in the regular season to .300 in the two CWS contests.
The biggest component of the power outage for the Hoos was the 2-5 spots in the lineup. Ethan O’Donnell, Jake Gelof, Kyle Teel, and Ethan Anderson combined to go 4-28 and plated just 2 runs (both by Anderson). They combined for 2 extra base hits, drew 2 walks, and were accountable for 9 of the 17 punch outs Virginia suffered. On a positive note, 4 of the Cavaliers’ 8 RBI were knocked in from 2-5 hole hitters.
Accounting for 44% of the at-bats for the Hoos, those four players were responsible for 47% of UVA’s runs scored, produced 49% of the teams hits, banged out 65% of the home runs, and knocked in 53% of the RBI.
The Hoos’ biggest CWS drought came from Gelof and Teel, who rolled into Omaha with a combined 186 hits and 158 RBI yet combined to go 0-14 with 1 RBI. It was only the second time this season that the two went back-to-back games with both players going hitless. It happened earlier in the season during the Notre Dame series.
Seven times this season, including the two games in South Bend, and the two in Omaha, Teel and Gelof have both gone hitless. Virginia went 1-6 in those games and three of the seven have occurred in the postseason. The third game occurred against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament, also a loss.
Fans all got revved up about the Friday night pitching, but the numbers say that these two games weren’t lost on the bump, they were lost in the batter’s box.
Had the UVA offense that entered the CWS averaging 9.12 runs per game could have found a way to get an extra run and a half per game, it’s a different weekend. You might be surprised to know that 2023’s 4.0 runs scored average became the second lowest runs per game by a UVA team in the CWS since the 2015 title season. That year the Hoos averaged only 3.43 runs per game.
One of the difficulties of supporting teams that frequently make it to the Final Four, the College Football Playoff, or a College World Series, is that everyone can taste the title, but ultimately, only one university leaves with the hardware.
Having said that, I’d rather be in the position to fight for that hardware than merely watching. Not trying to find silver linings here, just perspective.
“We just fell a little bit short in Omaha. Two one-run losses certainly hurts. I feel for our guys because they’ve had a terrific year,” Coach O’Connor lamented. “That said, we didn’t win. And that’s our goal is to win here in Omaha and give us a chance to win a National Championship. And we certainly fell short of that. We just couldn’t get that one more big hit that we needed to win here in Omaha. And sometimes – all the time that’s what it comes down to, that big clutch hit or that clutch pitch. And we just didn’t get enough of that this weekend.”
“It doesn’t diminish what this team accomplished, to have 50 wins and be playing here in Omaha again, speaks to what they’re made of and their talent and the type of program that we have,” he concluded. “We’ll regroup and look to build and be back here as soon as we possibly can.”
