Top-seeded Virginia opens super regionals with shutout

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  In the final weekend of the regular season, a Virginia team that had been ranked near the top of most national polls all year was swept in a three-game series at North Carolina.

"We went down there with a lot of confidence but we ran into a hot club and we didn't swing the bats well," said Cavaliers coach Brian O'Connor. "What it did was maybe refocused our guys and maybe sent a message that we have to be a little bit better."

That message continued to resonate Saturday when Virginia blanked California-Irvine 6-0 at Davenport Field in the opening game of their super regional series in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The Cavaliers, who earned the top seed in the 64-team field, have not lost since that weekend in Chapel Hill, reeling off eight consecutive victories as they have marched through the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and the opening weekend of the NCAA playoffs unscathed.

"I think we played a very good, fundamental game," O'Connor said. "We've been consumed with that the past few weeks."

Left-hander Danny Hultzen, the No. 2 overall pick in last week's major league draft, did not have his A-game but still was able to hold Cal-Irvine to three hits over 5⅓ innings. He endured a one hour and 24-minute delay due to lightning and rain that began in the fourth inning to run his record to 12-3. Cody Winiarski finished the job, holding the Anteaters (42-17) to one single.

"I didn't have it but my job is to put my team in a position to win," Hultzen said. "And the defense was awesome."

Virginia (53-9) turned three double plays, including one that cut down a run at the plate in the first inning to help offset three walks and a hit batter by Hultzen. Jared King took care of the offense with three hits, including a three-run homer that broke open the game in the sixth inning.

"They were as good as advertised and it really wasn't much of a contest," said Irvine coach Mike Gillespie. "I think our best chance might have been if lightning blew up the stadium."

Anteater starting pitcher Matt Summers kept the deficit at 2-0 entering the sixth but was undone when King blasted a change-up deep to left, just inside the foul pole. It was only the second homer of King's career but both have been game-winners.

"I just try to simplify things and not worry too much about mechanics," King said. "I think it was just my turn today."

Virginia reached the College World Series for the first time two years ago after losing the first game of its super regional at Mississippi before coming back to win the next two. Last season in the supers the Cavaliers beat Oklahoma in Charlottesville before losing the next two.

"There was so much hype last year," O'Connor said. "We had almost the entire team coming back, we were playing at home. It was maybe kind of assumed by everybody that we're just supposed to win and go to Omaha again.

"I guess as a group we learned that you just can't take things for granted. We're not like one of these programs in the storied history of college baseball that has been to Omaha 10 times. We're still trying to prove that we can build a tradition here."

Virginia will try to do that Sunday behind senior right-hander Tyler Wilson (8-0 with a 2.34 ERA) on the mound. Sophomore southpaw Matt Whitehouse (4-0, 2.14) has been Irvine's most consistent No. 2 starter.

"Virginia has a really deep staff, it's not just about Hultzen," Gillespie said. "We were serious when we said (the Cavaliers) have no apparent weakness."