Baseball Features 
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How do you cap off an ACC tournament championship and a trip to the College World Series? For Virginia men's baseball coach Brian O'Connor, enrolling all 12 members of his 2009 recruiting class - a class recently ranked 10th nationally by Collegiate Baseball - certainly counts. Five of the 12 prospects were selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft, but all five decided against turning professional and headed to Charlottesville.
OMAHA - The Cavaliers were one strike away in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday night from prolonging a dream. And that's just the beginning.
In one of the wildest finishes in College World Series history, the Cavaliers were eliminated from their first ever College World Series with a 4-3 loss. From the ninth to the 12th innings, Virginia stranded nine runners while loading the bases twice without scoring a run. At game's end, numerous Cavaliers - Franco Valdes and Andrew Carraway included - were in tears.
If anyone knows how this feels, it's Brian O'Connor.
A 4-3 extra innings loss at the College World Series? Brutal in every way. In any way.
And that's why Virginia - players, coaches, and fans alike - is lucky he's our coach.
Bouncing back has been the Cavalier mantra all season. After a dismal performance Saturday night at the plate and on the mound at critical junctions in Virginia's loss to LSU, UVa found a way to bounce back against No. 2 national seed Cal State Fullerton to remain alive in the 2009 College World Series.
Let's see, he's around 5'8" with the initials KW. Is there any question who one of my favorite Virginia players has become during this run to the College World Series? Of course after another rock solid performance Monday on the big stage in Omaha, it's safe to say that Keith Werman is probably on a lot of people's favorites lists right about now.
OMAHA - Andrew Carraway is Virginia's only senior who contributes on a regular basis - in the regular season, it has been mainly as a starter. In the postseason, though, he has often assumed the role he had as a sophomore: middle relief. And, as was often the case two years ago when he was scored on in just seven of 22 appearances, Carraway has been nearly untouchable. He helped Virginia earn at least 48 more hours in Omaha during a 7-5 victory Monday.
One doesn't need to look far to figure out why the Cavaliers lost Saturday night to favorite LSU. Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said it succinctly and best, "It comes down to what we do. We didn't make the pitches when we needed to make them and we didn't get quite enough clutch hits."
OMAHA - Maybe the performance of the Virginia pitching staff Saturday night can be attributed to nerves of a young group debuting at the College World Series. Or maybe after posting an absurd 1.13 ERA previously in the postseason, the Hoos' hurlers were due to get knocked around. Whatever the case may have been, when the Cavalier pitchers gave the Tigers an opportunity, they answered the challenge en route to a 9-5 win.
While Virginia's first ever game in the College World Series had some highlight moments - solo home runs, strikeouts, a brief lead - the short-term memories likely will be of the 'what might have been' variety. After all, the Cavaliers couldn't consistently come through with runners on base as LSU pulled out the 9-5 victory on Saturday night.
Last summer, Virginia baseball co-captains Andrew Carraway and Robert Poutier both elected to stay at UVa for one more year. This summer, their decision has proven to be a wise one. Carraway, a fourth year, and Poutier, a fifth year, are leading this year's team to Virginia's first ever appearance in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Each of the right-handed pitchers contributed valuable innings in the Super Regional series against Ole Miss this past weekend. The victories give the team 48 wins, the new UVa single-season record.
"My friend told me that Omaha will happen when you least expect it, " Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said.
When you least expect it? When you consider what this team has faced in recent weeks, Virginia's path certainly fits that bill. UVa earned its slot in the College World Series by defeating Ole Miss 5-1 on Sunday in an NCAA Super Regional.
It would be impossible to conclude the drama of Virginia's improbable run to the College World Series without including a chapter on adversity. Brian O'Connor's club had faced it all season with heart-breaking after gut-wrenching loss. Yet his young Cavaliers persevered. So it seems only fitting that the next chapter in this Cinderella story would include another story of triumph over tribulation.
After Virginia lost a heartbreaking 12-inning game to Ole Miss on Friday, the Cavaliers' ninth one-run loss of the season, coach Brian O'Connor said he knew his team would respond with a good effort on Saturday. No hesitation. Never mind the pressure of a Super Regional, he believed his players would react the exact same way they had all season - with plenty of fight and a lot of grit.
Boy was he right.
OXFORD, Miss. -The Cavalier defense was flawless in the Irvine Regional but Friday afternoon in Oxford, defensive miscues proved to be Virginia's undoing. UVa (46-13-1) fell 4-3 to Ole Miss (44-18) on a 12th-inning, solo walk-off home run by Matt Smith. The Rebels lead the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional 1-0.
Diamonds, dogs, and double plays. Everyone needs a best friend. For pitchers, UVa coach Brian O'Connor says, you'll find no better friend than the double play. Two outs for the price of one? It can erase mistakes, shift momentum, or alter the final score and when you're a team like Virginia, it's a critical piece of the defensive puzzle.
The depth of the UVa baseball team's pitching staff has become a topic of discussion with the team's recent domination in both the ACC Tournament and NCAA Regional play. Danny Hultzen has proven himself to be an integral part of that staff with a 9-1 record and a 2.01 ERA over 80.2 innings. As a freshman, Hultzen contributed in clutch moments in his first season, including pitching in the 5-0 win over top-ranked UC-Irvine last Saturday night. Unlike some college pitchers, however, Hulzten's role on the team has not been limited to the mound.
IRVINE, Calif. - Virginia used the same recipe it has used to win seven consecutive postseason games to take out No. 1 ranked and top-seeded UC-Irvine (45-15) in the Irvine Regional on Sunday, 4-1. Outstanding pitching, tremendous defense and timely hitting led the Hoos (46-12-1) to a sweep of the regional and their first trip to an NCAA Super Regional.
IRVINE, Calif. - Steven Proscia's eighth inning two-run blast certainly changed the complexion of Friday night's opening game of the Irvine Regional. Proscia's hit extended Virginia's (44-12-1) lead to 4-1 as the Hoos handed San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg (13-1) his first loss since May 22, 2008.
For the third time under Brian O'Connor, the Cavaliers earned a trip to the ACC title game. The Hoos lost to Georgia Tech 4-3 back in 2005 and suffered an 8-4 setback last year in Jacksonville to the Miami Hurricanes. But as the 2009 campaign has proved, this is a special Virginia club.
Virginia's second consecutive trip to the ACC title game looked in jeopardy entering the seventh inning of Saturday's game against Duke. But another big inning and some come from behind magic produced a seven run inning and ultimately an 11-7 Virginia victory.
Durham, NC. - Eight of Virginia's 11 ACC losses this season have come by one run, and as is so often the case in close losses it comes down to execution with runners on base. In those 11 losses the Cavaliers have left an average of 9.9 runners on base. That has not been the case in the ACC Tournament where the Cavaliers have batted just under .600 with runners in scoring position.
Virginia's 6-5 win over Clemson in the opening game of the ACC Baseball Tournament clearly turned for the Tigers in the disastrous fifth inning. UVa combined hard hits with aggressive base running to score four times in the frame. After the Hoos took the lead on Steven Proscia's run, they held on with strong pitching.
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