A tough debut for UVa
By Jay Jenkins
Published: June 14, 2009

OMAHA, Neb. — Chalk one up for the mentor.

Louisiana State, using a pair of mammoth homers, made a winner of coach Paul Mainieri in his reunion with Virginia coach Brian O’Connor in the opening day at the College World Series.

En route to the 9-5 victory in front of a record-tying crowd of 24,904 at legendary Rosenblatt Stadium, the Tigers pounded a trio of Cavalier pitchers.

“When you play a team like LSU - with that kind of lineup one through nine - if you don’t make the pitches you need to make in the clutch, they are going to burn you,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “Those are the pitches that we have made the last few weeks to get to this point. We didn’t make them tonight and that is to LSU’s credit.”

With the setback, Virginia falls into the loser’s bracket and faces a must-win situation Monday against Cal State Fullerton at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers (48-14-1) had won nine of 10 games heading into the CWS.

LSU (52-16) advances to face SEC rival Arkansas on Monday at 7 p.m. The Razorbacks upset Fullerton, 10-6, in the opening game of the CWS on Saturday.

Virginia certainly had its chances. In fact, the Cavaliers registered 13 hits, including two homers, but left 13 runners left on base.

LSU, using a 14-hit attack, was far more productive in clutch situations.

The biggest hit, one that sealed Virginia’s fate, came off the bat of left fielder Ryan Schimpf in the eighth inning as the Tigers were clinging to a 6-5 lead.

Schimpf’s blast, which drove in three runs, came off reliever Tyler Wilson and landed several rows deep in right field.

LSU, the top-ranked team in the country and the No. 3 national seed, jumped out to an early lead, scoring a lone run in the bottom-half of the first against Virginia starter Danny Hultzen.

Virginia evened the contest in the second on an RBI groundout, but the Cavaliers gave the lead back as the Tigers scored two runs back in their half of the third. In the frame, Hultzen allowed four hits, including a double, and walked two batters.

While LSU left the inning with a 3-1 lead, Hultzen minimized the damage, stranding three runners.

It was the end of the line, however for Hultzen, serving as the rookie’s shortest starting outing of the season. The ACC freshman of the year allowed seven hits, a walk and three earned runs.

“I threw some bad pitches that they took advantage of,“ Hultzen said.

After Hultzen escaped the jam, Virginia answered back again in the fourth inning as Tyler Cannon tripled and scored on a bloop single that dropped in shallow right field. It was in that frame that Virginia chased LSU starter Anthony Ranaudo from the contest after he worked just 3.1 innings.

Virginia added a pair of runs in the top of fifth, including one on a two-out single from Keith Werman, but the Cavaliers stranded two runners.

As was the theme the entire contest, LSU answered again.

This time, however, the Tigers used the first of their homers and took the lead back for good.

With Matt Packer in for the Cavaliers and two runners on, LSU first baseman Sean Ochinko ripped a fastball over the wall in left field.

Virginia cut into the deficit in the seventh with a solo homer from Franco Valdes. Unfortunately for UVa, the blast came moments after first baseman John Hicks was caught trying to steal second.
 

O’Connor wins coach’s honor
By Jay Jenkins
Published: June 14, 2009

OMAHA, Neb. — Appearing on every single ballot, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor waltzed away with national coach of the year honors from the National College Baseball Writers Association on Saturday.

Voted on by the NCBWA Board of Directors, the list of candidates for the award included the eight coaches from the teams at the College World Series and every Division I coach honored as the conference coach of the year.

O’Connor received the award at the Omaha Press Club.

“It is quite an honor,” said O’Connor, who was preparing for the Cavaliers CWS opener against LSU. “This award belongs as much to me as it does to my players and my assistant coaches.”

O’Connor led Virginia to its first ACC tournament championship since 1996, a program-best 48 wins and its first-ever berths in a super regional and the College World Series.

Hoos in the house

A host of former Virginia players made the trek to Omaha to watch the CWS.

That contingent included former UVa second baseman and assistant coach Kyle Werman, now an assistant coach at George Mason.

Werman had extra motivation — his younger brother, Keith, started at second base for the Cavaliers.

“I couldn’t miss this,” the elder Werman said. “This is such a great accomplishment for the program.”

Other former Virginia players in attendance for the opener included pitchers Jeff Kamrath and Shooter Starr and outfielders Tim Henry and Brandon Marsh.

Some dazzling dimensions

The measurements to the base of the wall at legendary Rosenblatt Stadium are eerily similar to those that Virginia’s players have enjoyed all year at Davenport Field.

Why so? They are a perfect match, something that O’Connor planned after moving in the fences in left and right field.

At Davenport and Rosenblatt, it is 408 feet to straightaway center and 335 down the lines in left and right field.
 

Using an array of pitchers and getting some big blasts, LSU beats Virginia 9-5 in College World Series opener
Posted by Jim Kleinpeter, The Times-PIcayune June 13, 2009 11:02PM

After hitting a three-run homer in the fifth inning, LSU's Sean Ochinko, right, is greeted by teammates Mikie Mahtook, far left, and Micah Gibbs as he crosses the plate. The Tigers defeated Virginia 9-5 in their opening game at the College World Series on Saturday. OMAHA, NEB. LSU Coach Paul Mainieri wasn't kidding when he said everyone on the pitching staff was available for the first game of the College World Series.

The Tigers needed every one of them Saturday.

Six LSU pitchers, including all three weekend starters and the closer, were called on to help the Tigers subdue a feisty Virginia team, 9-5, at the College World Series.

Click here for the updated College World Series bracket.

LSU produced three runs in the bottom of the eighth -- two on Ryan Schimpf's home run -- to give Matty Ott a nice cushion to finish a game that was tooth and nail nearly the whole way.

The victory, LSU's 11th straight, moves the Tigers (52-16) into a second-round game against Arkansas on Monday at 6 p.m. Arkansas defeated Cal State Fullerton 10-6 in the first game. Virginia (48-14-1) will play Fullerton in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Monday.

First baseman Sean Ochinko gave LSU a 6-4 lead with a three-run homer in the fifth inning. But Virginia continued to pressure the Tiger pitchers, forcing Mainieri to go to starters Austin Ross in the fourth inning and ace Louis Coleman in the eighth.

Coleman, who is still expected to start Monday, served as a setup man for Ott after Virginia trimmed the lead to 6-5 on Franco Valdes' solo homer off Ross (6-7).

Coleman, the SEC Pitcher of the Year, pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one baserunner, and got the Tigers to the ninth inning with the lead.

"He said something around the fifth, " said Coleman, who threw 17 pitches. "I'm good to go for Monday."

Because LSU was up by four runs, Ott was not eligible for a save. He allowed a double to Valdes with one out but struck out center fielder Jarrett Parker to end the game.

"That was a kind of game we haven't had this year where the starter doesn't go very far into the game, " LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said. "I'm extremely proud of the way our guys battled the whole game. I kept thinking I had Louis for the eighth and Ott for the ninth. We just had to get through those middle innings.

"In the end, the bats came to life. We were able to separate ourselves a little bit."

LSU finally gave itself some breathing room in the eighth. Derek Helenihi singled and went to second when Austin Nola was hit by a pitch. Helenihi was out trying to steal third, but Nola moved up to second and scored on a base hit by DJ LeMahieu to make it 7-5.

Schimpf hit the first pitch he saw from Tyler Wilson into the right-field stands for his team-leading 20th home run.

Both teams saw their starting pitchers struggle, though neither team could deliver a knockout blow. LSU's Anthony Ranaudo threw 80 pitches in his shortest outing of the season, leaving with one out in the fourth inning and the bases loaded.

Ranaudo might have been knocked out of the game sooner if not for dazzling defensive plays by center fielder Mikie Mahtook, LeMahieu at second base and Nola at shortstop. Each player robbed Virginia players of hits with runners on base.

Ranaudo struggled with his control throughout the game, falling behind hitters and walking four. He also threw a wild pitch and had a season-low three strikeouts. Virginia's Danny Hultzen didn't make it as far as Ranaudo. He threw 77 pitches, 41 in the third inning, and didn't come out for the fourth.

Both teams left the bases littered with runners, 14 for Virginia, which had 13 hits, and seven for LSU. Five of those were left on in the first three innings when the Tigers had Hultzen on the ropes. He allowed seven hits and three runs, walking one and striking out five.

Ochinko had struck out in his two previous at-bats against Hultzen, who was lifted in favor of Matt Packer. Micah Gibbs and Mahtook singled with one out off Packer, bringing Ochinko to the plate. He blasted a 2-1 pitch into the left-field seats for his eighth homer of the season.

While the Tigers' pitchers struggled, they succeeded in crucial situations. Paul Bertuccini came in to get the Tigers out of a jam with a strikeout and a line-drive out to left by Hultzen. The entire LSU dugout was holding its breath on that one as Schimpf made a running catch near the left-field line.

Bertuccini then ran into trouble, surrendering two runs in the fifth as Virginia took its first lead. Steven Proscia hit a solo home run, and three more base hits gave the Cavs another run. That's when Ross, LSU's Sunday starter, came in and retired Parker, a .364 hitter with 16 homers, on a called third strike.

Ross had it going for most of two innings after Ochinko's homer, but he gave up a two-out solo homer to Valdes to pull Virginia within a run. Mainieri then went to left-hander Chad Jones, who walked Parker but retired Phil Gosselin on a pop fly with the tying run on base.

 

Roaring to victory
By Steven Pivovar
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The ability to make pitches and get hits in the clutch separated Louisiana State from Virginia in Saturday night's College World Series meeting.

The No. 1-ranked Tigers' reward for coming through when it mattered most was a 9-5 victory before 24,904 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium that advanced them to a Monday bracket one winners game against Arkansas.

Meanwhile, Virginia will have to battle for its CWS life in a 1 p.m. elimination game against Cal State Fullerton because the Cavaliers fell short of winning the crucial spots in the 3-hour-and-40-minute game.

“When you play a team like LSU, if you don't make the pitches you need to in the clutch, they're going to burn you,'' Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. “Those are pitches that we've made the last two weeks to get to this point. We didn't do that tonight.''

The Cavaliers also couldn't get big hits that could have turned the game in their favor. Virginia got 14 hits, including five for extra bases, but stranded 14 runners in dropping to 48-14-1.

LSU (52-16) also got 14 hits, and none was bigger than the one first baseman Sean Ochinko delivered in the fifth inning to swing the momentum back in the Tigers' favor. Virginia had just taken its only lead when it scored twice in its half of the fifth.

The Tigers struck back quickly as Ochinko followed one-out singles by Micah Gibbs and Mikie Mahtook with his eighth homer of the season but his first in 32 games since April 3. Ochinko failed to make contact in his other three at-bats against Virginia as he struck out in the first, third and seventh innings.

“It seems like my last one (homer) was about 40 games ago,'' Ochinko said. “I'm just glad I could help out the team tonight. It was an ordinary night — I went 1 for 4 and struck out three times — but I got that one when we needed it.''

The Tigers also got enough solid moments from the five pitchers who followed ace Anthony Ranaudo after the sophomore All-American failed to make it past the fourth inning. Paul Bertuccini bailed the Tigers out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth by getting a strikeout and fly ball.

The Cavaliers countered with two runs off Bertuccini in the fifth to take the lead, but Austin Ross finished out the inning with a strikeout and then pitched into the seventh. The Tigers called on Chad Jones for an out to finish off the seventh, had No. 2 starter Louis Coleman pitch a perfect eighth and then turned it over to freshman closer Matty Ott in the ninth.

“I can't remember the last time we had a starting pitcher not make it through four innings,'' LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “They usually pitch deep into the game. We were able to piece it together in the middle innings, our defense made some great plays and then our offense came to life.''

Ochinko's homer put the Tigers ahead 6-4. Virginia got a run back in the seventh, and it might have had two had it not tried to make something happen with its running game. John Hicks got thrown out trying to steal second with one out. Franco Valdes hit the next pitch out of the park to pull Virginia within 6-5.

“I told our team three weeks ago when we went out to Irvine to start this thing that no matter who we play or where we play, we're not going to change the style of baseball that had gotten us here,'' O'Connor said. “Sure, if we would have known Valdes was going to hit a home run, we wouldn't have been running.''

LSU made that decision moot when it strung three runs onto its lead in the eighth, with Ryan Schimpf punctuating the inning with a two-run homer into the right-field bleachers. Ott then finished off LSU's first win in an opening-round CWS game since 2000.

“It was nice to win the first game of the College World Series one time,'' Mainieri said. “This is the first time we've done that in a long time.''
 

Game 2 snapshot
Star of the game: Louisiana State first baseman Sean Ochinko made the most of limited contact. His three-run homer in the fifth inning erased a 4-3 Virginia lead, and the Tigers held on to claim the win. Ochinko struck out in his other three at-bats.

Play of the game: LSU left fielder Ryan Schimpf kept the Tigers in the lead when he ended the fourth inning with a diving catch of Danny Hultzen's line drive that was hooking toward the foul line. Had Hultzen's bases-loaded drive fallen in, the Cavaliers would have turned a 3-2 deficit into at least a one-run lead.

Bad choice: Trailing by two runs in the seventh inning, Virginia tried to be aggressive by having John Hicks attempt to steal second base. LSU catcher Micah Gibbs threw out Hicks. On the next pitch, Franco Valdes homered.

Missed that one: Third-base umpire Darrin Sealey might want to check the replay of the long drive that Virginia's Dan Grovatt hit down the left-field line in leading off the second inning. Schimpf couldn't come up with the catch in the corner, and television replays indicated that the ball dropped well inside the line. Sealey's call on the play was foul ball, depriving Grovatt of a triple. Virginia coach Brian O'Connor raced out to discuss the call with Sealey, but the call stood. Grovatt singled to left field on the next pitch but wound up getting stranded at second base.

Quirky stat: Virginia had left 52 runners on base in its first six games in the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers stranded 14 in Saturday's loss, including three in the fourth inning after they had loaded the bases with one out.

They said it: “After Ryan made that sliding catch, I told him he had really improved since the early innings. He whiffed on that one.'' — LSU coach Paul Mainieri, on Schimpf's play in left field on the balls hit by Grovatt in the second and Hultzen in the fourth.

Our take: LSU showed why it is the No. 1 team in the country. If the Tigers keep making pitches and getting clutch hits, they're going to be awfully tough to beat. And to Virginia's credit, the Cavs played without the first-game jitters that affect many a first-time qualifier in Omaha.
— Steven Pivovar

CWS Notes: Triumph tough for LSU coach

Paul Mainieri and Brian O'Connor are glad that one is over.

The matchup of the coaches of Louisiana State and Virginia, close friends from their days at Notre Dame when O'Connor served under Mainieri as the pitching coach, is one of the bigger off-the-field stories of this College World Series.

After LSU won the game on the field 9-5, the coaches are looking forward to playing someone else.

“As soon as it got to two outs in the ninth inning and we were one out away from winning, as hard as it was to fight the feeling, I started thinking about it quite a bit,” Mainieri said. “You're happy for your kids -— they competed hard for LSU and that's where my loyalty is — but once the last out is made and you know your friend is hurting, you want to console him.

“I'm glad the game is over with and we can move forward and compete against someone I don't have this close of a relationship with — with all due respect to Arkansas.”

The Tigers meet their Southeastern Conference rivals Monday night, after Virginia plays Cal State Fullerton in a 1 p.m. elimination game.

For O'Connor, the Council Bluffs St. Albert graduate who played college baseball at Creighton, there's no doubt about who he'd like to see win each game that day.

“I'm looking forward to locking horns with him again at some point in this tournament,” O'Connor said. “No disrespect to Arkansas and (coach) Dave Van Horn, but after our game Sunday, I'll be rooting for my friend.”

Running down all the details

LSU first baseman Sean Ochinko, was asked in the post-game press conference about the scouting report his club had on Virginia starter Danny Hultzen.

Ochinko was more than happy to provide plenty of insight.

“It was right on,” Ochinko said. “We knew they would double-up pitches — if they threw a fastball the first pitch they would come back with it on the second pitch — and that they would stay away, and that they would only throw sliders to lefties and that's exactly what they did.”

At that point, Mainieri jumped in.

“Would you like to share more?” Mainieri said, laughing. “Maybe you'd like to give them our signs, too.”

Don't blame Ochinko too much for his excitement. His three-run homer off Matt Packer in the fifth inning put the Tigers ahead to stay at 6-4.

“It feels good to help the team and drive in runs,” he said. “I struck out three times, but I'm in here (the press conference) because I hit a three-run homer. I'm just happy I got to drive in those three runs and get the team going, and that's probably the best feeling I've ever had as a baseball player.”

O'Connor doesn't mind second-guessing

Trailing 6-4 in the seventh inning with John Hicks on first base and its hottest hitter, Franco Valdes, at the plate, Virginia had Hicks try to steal second.

He was out.

Valdes deposited the next pitch over the left field wall for a home run that would have tied the game, but instead only brought the Cavaliers within 6-5.

“We're not going to change the style of baseball that has gotten us here,” Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. “The players have confidence in that. Sure, if we had known Franco Valdes was going to hit a home run, yeah, we wouldn't have run him, but you can't change it now.

“That's what I love about baseball. There's so much pressure, so many decisions you have to make.”

Coleman ready for return trip

Louis Coleman pitched the eighth inning for LSU on Saturday, but the right-hander said he'd have no problem as the starter Monday when the Tigers face LSU.

The Tigers have used Coleman (13-2) in relief before on Friday night in the first game of a weekend series and then started him on Sunday, similar to this Saturday-Monday double.

“I'll definitely be ready to go on Monday,” Coleman said. “That's the least amount of pitches I've thrown in that instance.”

In fact, coach Paul Mainieri used the Tigers' top three starters Saturday, with Austin Ross (6-7) working two innings in relief as one of five to come out of the bullpen behind starter Anthony Ranaudo.

“I don't think I've ever thrown three starting pitchers in one game, but that's what we had to do to win the game,” Mainieri said.

Fair or foul? And did it matter?

Television replays appeared to indicate that Virginia's Dan Grovatt was robbed of a second-inning double.

Grovatt lofted a fly ball into the left field corner and LSU's Ryan Schimpf drifted over for it. Schimpf, moving close to the foul line with the wall behind it, appeared to miss the ball completely, with the ball falling fair just inside the line. Third base umpire Darrin Sealey, perhaps shielded by Schimpf, called it foul.

The ball rolled away and, with Schimpf slumping, Grovatt might have had a chance to stretch the play into a triple. Had he reached third, he might have scored, the way the rest of the inning played out. He probably wouldn't have scored from second.

“Those guys (umpires) have challenging jobs like we all do,” O'Connor said. “I don't know if it was right or wrong. Those guys are the best - the eight best in the country have come to work this tournament. Whether it was right or wrong, they're not perfect, none of us are. Nothing like that affected the outcome ball game.”

Grovatt wound up hitting a single past third baseman Derek Helenihi.

Schimpf redeemed himself two innings later, making a sliding catch that caused Virginia to leave the bases loaded.

“I told him he'd really improved since the early innings,” Mainieri said. “He whiffed on that one.”

Arkansas' practice pays off

Who knew that culture shock was part of the College World Series?

Arkansas was ready for it, for the most part, when it faced Cal State Fullerton in Saturday's CWS opener and earned a 10-6 victory.

“We knew they're a West Coast team and they do things differently than we do in the SEC,” Razorbacks first baseman Andy Wilkins said. “They like to throw the ball (outside). So that's what we prepared for the whole week. Defensively we worked against small ball — bunts, hit-and-runs, steals, those type of things.”

Van Horn likes much of what Cal State Fullerton does, mentioning, too, that the Titans have some home run power as well.

“They're exciting to watch, unless you're trying to beat them,” he said.

Two-out magic a win requirement

Arkansas drove in nine of its 10 runs with two outs Saturday, a formula that always means success. After all, the longer an inning goes, the more chances there are to score runs.

“Any team that's playing well is going to drive in runs with two outs,” Van Horn said. “You have to. That's when the runners are in scoring position. You've got two outs to get them there ... walk, base hit, bunt, fly ball ... now you've got to get a big hit. That's just winning baseball.”

His Razorbacks, now 6-0 in NCAA tournament play, are a team riding high in confidence, contributing to the clutch hitting.

“We get a pitch to hit, we hit it,” Van Horn said. “We get a pitcher's pitch, we foul it off to get to the next pitch. Sometimes when it's going, it's going, and it's going.”

Titans pitchers have tough day

Cal State Fullerton had allowed just 11 runs in its five NCAA tournament games before Saturday, then gave up 10 to Arkansas.

Starter Noe Ramirez, 9-1 with a 2.86 ERA coming into the game, was charged with seven runs on five hits and three walks in 3.2 innings. The freshman All-American hadn't allowed more than five runs in any start all season and had won his previous six decisions.

“When Noe gets excited he loses his mechanics and I think it was more mechanical than it was mental,” Fullerton coach Dave Serrano said.

Relievers Tyler Pill and Nick Ramirez, also freshman All-Americans, allowed inherited runners to score when coming into the game.

Pill gave up a two-run, ground-ball single to Scott Lyons before allowing a three-run homer to Wilkins that made it 9-2.

“He jumped ahead against Lyons first pitch and he got the ball through the (shortstop) hole,” Serrano said. “The change up to Wilkins, it looked like he was sitting on that, and I'll take the blame for that because I was the one who suggested it.”

Wilkins hit an RBI single off Nick Ramirez in the eighth.

“I'm in charge of pitching and we didn't pitch very well,” Serrano said. “That's the most runs we've given up in a while.”

UCLA scored 13 runs against the Titans on May 17 — Fullerton had won nine in a row since then.

Short hops

Virginia's home ballpark, Davenport Field, has the same dimensions as Rosenblatt Stadium — 335 feet down the lines, 375 feet to the power alleys and 408 feet to straightaway center field.

Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, a former All-American third baseman at Virginia recently donated $250,000 to help fund an expansion project at Davenport Field. The improvements include a team meeting room, weight room, indoor batting cages, training room, a hall of fame area, umpires' locker room and visiting locker room.

Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Louisiana State and Virginia — the teams that played Saturday on the opening day of the College World Series — are tying to make the first day of the series relevant.

No team that has played — not lost, but played — on the first day of the CWS has won the national championship since Miami did in 1999.

LSU won its opening game in the College World Series for the first time since 2000, the last time it won the national championship. The Tigers had started 0-1 in their last three CWS appearances. — Rob White
 

Painful beginning
By Curt McKeever | Correspondent
June 14, 2009

OMAHA - — Virginia made it through 5,754 miles of traveling, more than any other team, to get to the College World Series for the first time.

If only the Cavaliers could have had some better luck navigating some landings in Rosenblatt Stadium's left field Saturday night, they might not be one loss from taking a trip home.

LSU spoiled the homecoming of U.Va. coach Brian O'Connor, who grew up across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa, by defeating the Cavaliers 9-5 before a crowd of 24,904.

A three-run homer to left field by Sean Ochinko off Matt Packer with one out in the fifth inning provided the difference in an outcome that sent Virginia into a Monday afternoon elimination game against Cal State Fullerton. The Cavs will need to go on a four-game winning streak in order to make the best-of-three championship series.

LSU, which won its 11th straight, had allowed two runs in the top of the fifth to fall behind for the only time before Ochinko delivered a third play that favored the Tigers in left field.

The first occurred in the top of the second inning, when third-base umpire Darrin Sealey called a fly ball Danny Grovatt hooked into the left-field corner foul. Replays showed the ball hit just fair a few feet in front of the wall. Grovatt would end up singling, but Anthony Ranaudo worked his way out of a two-on situation by getting John Hicks to fly out to center before striking out Franco Valdes.

Virginia's tough luck in left continued in the fourth, when the Cavs pulled to 3-2 on a one-out triple by Tyler Cannon and Valdes' bloop single. U.Va. then loaded the bases on Keith Werman's bunt single and a walk issued to Jarrett Parker. But after the right-handed sophomore Ranaudo struck out Phil Gosselin, LSU left fielder Ryan Schimpf made a sliding catch of a tailing liner to rob Danny Hultzen of a run-producing hit.

"We were in that game until the eighth," Grovatt said. "It just seemed like all the breaks went to them.

"We had a lot of opportunities with men on base and maybe an inch or two here and there it's different."

O'Connor's club (48-14-1) tied the game at 3 on freshman Steven Proscia's homer with one out in the fifth, then went ahead when Werman floated a two-out single over the head of first baseman DJ LeMahieu to score Tyler Cannon, who'd walked.

But LSU answered immediately against the left-handed junior reliever Packer, who had not given up an earned run in his first five NCAA tournament outings. Micah Gibbs and Mikie Mahtook both singled before Ochinko turned on a delivery for his eighth home run of the season.

Virginia missed a chance to force another tie in the seventh, when Valdes hit a solo homer off Austin Ross right after John Hicks had been thrown out trying to steal second base.

The next time the Cavs put in a runner in scoring position was in the ninth, after LSU had gotten three eighth-inning insurance runs on LeMahieu's RBI single and Schimpf's two-run homer off Tyler Wilson.

"We've overcome so much this year in games," Grovatt said. "We've fought back in so many situations — we're going to be fine."

The Tigers, 52-16 and winners in 27 of their last 30 games, advanced to play Arkansas on Monday night.

Heroes step forward
Ochinko, Schimpf deliver key homers in LSU's 9-5 victory
By RANDY ROSETTA
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Jun 14, 2009

OMAHA, Neb. — Heroes are welcome at this point of the season, no matter when their contributions arrive or what they might have done — or not done — recently.

For LSU’s Ryan Schimpf, playing the hero has been commonplace the past two seasons.

It’s been a while since Tigers first baseman Sean Ochinko stepped into that role this season.

Saturday night both hitters rose to the occasion in a big way to vault the Tigers past Virginia 9-5 in the opening round of the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Ochinko slammed a momentum-switching three-run home run in the fifth inning to give LSU the lead right after the Cavaliers had moved in front for the first time.

And Schimpf supplied some welcome breathing room in the eighth inning, when he belted a two-run home run one pitch after DJ LeMahieu drilled an RBI single to center field.

Those big blows were enough to stave off Virginia, which piled up 14 hits and chased Tigers starter Anthony Ranaudo after 3 1/3 innings — his shortest stint of the season.

LSU got solid help from its bullpen, including appearances by normal weekend starters Austin Ross and Louis Coleman, and freshman closer Matty Ott finished off the Tigers’ first win in a CWS opener since 2000.

With the victory LSU (52-16) moves on to face Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas (40-22) at 6 p.m. Monday. The Razorbacks staggered No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton 10-6 in the opening game of the CWS.

“When we lost the lead, there was no hanging of heads. There was no panic in our dugout. Our guys just kept battling hard,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said.

“I thought Austin Ross came in and did a tremendous job and kind of bridged the gap there. … In the end the bats came to life and we got a couple of big knocks. Ochinko’s was the big one obviously, to turn the tide.”

The surge came against a Cavaliers pitching staff that had been stout this postseason was sorely needed because of Ranaudo’s struggles.

The sophomore right-hander was wobbly from the second inning until he gave way to Paul Bertuccini in the fourth with the bases loaded and Virginia (48-14-1) threatening to erase the Tigers’ 3-2 lead.

Bertuccini wiggled out of that jam when he struck out Phil Gosselin and retired Cavaliers pitcher Danny Hultzen when Schimpf made a dazzling catch on a sinking line drive near the left-field line.

While that temporarily stopped the bleeding, Bertuccini couldn’t protect the lead for good.

Virginia knotted the score on Steven Proscia’s solo homer in the fifth and the Cavs punched in front when nine-hole hitter Keith Werman blooped a two-out single just over first base – one of his four hits.

Ross, the Tigers regular Sunday starter this season, came on to strike out Virginia leadoff man Jarrett Parker looking to end the inning and then logged a scoreless sixth.

That zero on the scoreboard was major because it came right after Ochinko slugged the biggest home run of his career to put LSU on top for good.

Cavaliers reliever Matt Packer surrendered back-to-back one-out singles to Micah Gibbs and Mikie Mahtook — the third hit of the night for both — and then grooved a 2-and-1 fast ball to Ochinko, who turned on the pitch and drove it out of the park to left field.

In his two earlier at-bats, Ochinko struck out and stranded two runners each time. The homer was his first in 32 games (37 for the team).

“It feels like 40,” Ochinko said. “It just feels good to help the team and drive in three big runs and help get us going.

“That was the most important baseball moment of my life.”

It became bigger for Ochinko and all the Tigers, thanks to Ross, Coleman, LeMahieu and Schimpf.

Ross gave up a solo homer to Cavaliers catcher Franco Valdes in the seventh and then Werman’s last single. That prompted Mainieri to call on sophomore left-hander Chad Jones, who walked Parker but got Gosselin on a popup to LeMahieu at second base.

Coleman entered to notch a scoreless eighth and Ott duplicated that feat in the ninth.

Scheduled to start Monday, Coleman said Mainieri came to him in the fifth inning and asked him if he could throw an inning.

The answer from the 2009 SEC Pitcher of the Year was predictable, and he provided a similar response when asked if he would be ready for Arkansas on Monday after throwing 17 pitches against Virginia.

“My arm’s going to feel fine like it has all season,” Coleman said. “I just want to win a national championship, so if I throw six times while we’re here that’s fine.

Added Mainieri, “He’s at the point now where he wants the ball whenever he can get it.”

Virginia will face Fullerton at 1 p.m. Monday in an elimination game after losing its first College World Series game to a team making a second consecutive appearance.

The Cavaliers had no problem hitting against LSU pitching, but they also stranded 14 runners, two or more in five innings. Virginia’s bullpen also faltered, with Packer and Tyler Wilson allowing three runs apiece.

“I really felt like we had a chance after we got Ranaudo out of the game, but we couldn’t come up with that one more big hit to break it open,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said.

“When you play a team like LSU, with that kind of lineup 1-through-9, if you don’t make the pitches that you need to make in the clutch, they’re going to burn you and that’s what makes them a real good offensive club. Those are the pitches that we’ve made the last two week to get to this point, and we didn’t make them (Saturday).”
 

LSU leans on three starters in 9-5 victory
By GARY LANEY
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Jun 14, 2009

OMAHA, Neb. — It’s a good thing for LSU’s pitching staff that Saturday wasn’t a regular-season game.

The Tigers burned through their entire weekend starting pitching rotation in the 9-5 College World Series win over Virginia as the Tigers pieced together five pitchers behind ineffective starter Anthony Ranaudo.

Among the relievers were Austin Ross, who threw two innings of four-hit, one-run ball for the win and Louis Coleman, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Those are usually the other two Tigers starters in three-game weekends.

“I can’t ever remember doing that before,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “But it was what we had to do to win tonight. And you have to take these games one at a time.”

It’s a luxury the CWS provides. The Tigers are off today and Coleman, who threw 17 pitches, said he’ll be available Monday against Arkansas. Ross, who was seen running in the outfield more than an hour after Saturday’s game, could still pitch the next game or, if LSU stays in the winners bracket, the Tigers could go right back to Ranaudo in a Friday game.

“That is what’s so nice about this tournament,” Mainieri said. “You have the day off. If what had happened today had happened on a Friday in a weekend series, we’d be in a lot of trouble. But we have a day off and we play on Monday, then we have another day off.”

Using starting pitchers wasn’t necessarily the plan, of course. What Mainieri and the Tigers were hoping for was an effective start from Ranaudo, who instead struggled with control, couldn’t find a rhythm and wound up struggling through 80 pitches in his shortest outing of the season, 3 1/3 innings.

“He just didn’t have a rhythm today,” said Mainieri, who said the sophomore may have been bothered by the longer between-inning breaks for TV or the fact he was always throwing to first base to try to check Virginia’s running game. “I can’t explain it. His control was off and I don’t know what his velocity readings were on television, but he didn’t seem like he was throwing as hard as he normally does.”

So, in the fourth inning, the Tigers had to burn up some bullpen. And the other starters were already on alert to the possibility.

“We decided early in the week that I was going to be in the bullpen, at least for the first game,” said Ross, who allowed one run in two innings that Mainieri said “bridged” his team to Coleman and closer Matty Ott in the eighth inning. “If we win, I might pitch Friday, so that’s plenty of rest.”

It was the first bullpen appearance of the year for Ross, who had made 16 starts. But he pitched in the bullpen last season and said a scrimmage earlier in the week, where he pitched out of the bullpen, helped.

“I was comfortable with it,” he said.

Coleman came in to start the eighth inning with the Tigers leading 6-5 and retired three of his four batters on 17 pitches, a short outing for a guy scheduled to pitch on Monday against Arkansas.

“My shoulder is feeling fine,” he said. “I’m definitely ready for Monday. I’ve done this a couple of times before (a relief appearances two days before a start). That was actually one of the fewest number of pitches I’ve thrown (in relief) all year.”

Mainieri said his pitching staff will be ready to again have all hands, except Ranaudo, available for the Arkansas game.

“In a four-team, double-elimination tournament, those first two (games) are critical,” Mainieri said. “This game on Monday is absolutely huge because it’s the difference between having to win one more and having to win three more after that.”

The hope for the Tigers is that, against Arkansas, Coleman pitches well enough for the Tigers to not need to piece together a bullpen effort again.

 

Virginia adds two football commitments
By NORM WOOD | ¦ 247-4642
9:45 PM EDT, June 13, 2009

Virginia's one-day football camp Saturday for rising senior high school prospects was highlighted by the addition of two commitments for its 2010 recruiting class.

E.J. Scott, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound wide receiver from Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Md., accepted a scholarship offer from U.Va. Ryan Cobb, a 6-foot-0, 215-pound linebacker from Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., also pledged to the Cavaliers. Feb. 3 will be the first day recruits can sign a letter of intent with a university.

Scott, who had 18 catches for 475 yards and seven touchdowns last season, also considered offers from Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Louisville, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Iowa, East Carolina, Rutgers and Akron. Cobb had an appointment from Navy, and also had invitations to join the football teams at Harvard and Yale. U.Va. was the first school to offer a scholarship.

Scott and Cobb helped U.Va. continue a week in which it has seen its commitments for the '10 class increase from one to four. None of the four commitments are from the state of Virginia. Tyler Brosius, a 6-3, 235-pound prospect from Tuscola Senior High in Waynesville, N.C. who is considered by many recruiting analysts to be among the nation's top 50 quarterback recruits, committed to U.Va. earlier this week.

Brosius also looked at offers from Pittsburgh, Maryland, ECU and Central Florida. He passed for 2,437 yards, 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season.
 

Cavs add a pair to class of 2010
By The Daily Progress Staff
Published: June 14, 2009

Virginia’s junior day paid dividends on Saturday when the Cavaliers scored their third and fourth commitments for the class of 2010.

Ryan Cobb, a rising senior from Don Bosco Prep in Wykoff, N.J., became UVa’s third commitment after delivering the news to coach Al Groh on Saturday. Wide receiver E.J. Scott from Good Counsel High in Wheaton, Md., followed suit later in the day.

The 6-foot, 216-pound Cobb plays several positions and projects as a safety or outside linebacker in college. He has been timed at 4.58 seconds in the 40-yard dash and chose Virginia over offers from Navy, Harvard and Yale.

Scott, listed at 5-foot-11 and 172 pounds, runs the 40 in 4.41 seconds. He chose the Cavaliers over Rutgers and Wake Forest and also had offers from Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Akron, East Carolina and Towson.

Scott is listed as a three-star prospect by rivals.com, while Cobb has not yet been ranked.

Cobb and Scott join two offensive players from North Carolina in the Cavaliers’ class. Running back Kevin Parks from West Rowan High committed in February and Tuscola High quarterback Tyler Brosius made his decision last week.