The UVA baseball team opens the 2015 NCAA College World Series at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday as it takes on Arkansas at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The Cavaliers are making their second straight trip to Omaha as well as their fourth trip in the last seven years.
Virginia and Arkansas share a bracket with Miami and Florida, which play at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday on ESPN. The winners of the Saturday games will play at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, while the losing teams face off in an elimination game at 3 p.m. ET on Monday. Both of the Monday contests will air on ESPN2.
The teams at the College World Series are split into two brackets, the winners of which will meet in the championship series, starting June 22. Making up Bracket 2 are LSU (53-10), TCU (49-13), Vanderbilt (47-19) and Cal State Fullerton (39-23).
Broadcast Information
The Saturday game airs on ESPN and also will stream online via the WatchESPN app. UVa’s live radio broadcasts are available on VirginiaSports.com through a Cavaliers Live subscription. A link to live statistics also can be found on VirginiaSports.com.
WINA 1070-AM and WINA.com will have the live local radio broadcast for all postseason games. Each of the NCAA regional games will air across select stations on the Virginia Sports Radio Network:
Charlottesville – WINA 1070 AM
Lynchburg – WZZU 97.9 FM
Martinsville – WHEE 1370 AM
Richmond – WRVA 1140 AM
Roanoke – WFIR 107.3 FM/ 960 AM
Virginia Returns to Omaha for Fourth Time in Seven Years
Virginia has advanced to the College World Series for the fourth time in program history (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015). UVa joins Florida as the only schools to appear in four CWS since 2009. UVa is 7-6 in CWS games (1-2 in 2009, 2-2 in 2011, 4-2 in 2014). The Cavaliers took runner-up honors to Vanderbilt in the 2014 CWS Finals
Virginia in the NCAA Baseball Championship
A No. 3 regional seed this season, Virginia is competing in its 15th NCAA tournament, including its 12th straight trip to the Big Dance. UVa is 47-32 in the tournament, including 35-16 over the last seven seasons. Under Brian O’Connor (since 2004), UVa is 41-26 in the NCAA tourney. UVa owns six regional championships – all in the last seven seasons (2009-11, 2013-15) – and four super regional titles.
Virginia One of Six Schools in Last 12 NCAA Tournaments
Virginia is one of six Division I baseball programs to reach the NCAA tournament each of the last 12 seasons (including 2015). The Cavaliers are one of three teams in the ACC to hold that distinction, joining Florida State and Miami. Top current NCAA tournament streaks: Miami (43), Florida State (38), Cal State Fullerton (24), Rice (21), Arkansas (13), Virginia (12).
CWS Experience Returns
Fifteen members of the 2015 roster were part of the 2014 College World Series runner-up team; eight saw playing time last year in the CWS. Joe McCarthy (RF), Daniel Pinero (SS) and Kenny Towns (3B) each played in all six of UVa’s CWS games last year. Robbie Coman started three CWS games in 2014. Nathan Kirby, Josh Sborz and Brandon Waddell each made a pair of starts in Omaha in 2014; Waddell was selected to the All-CWS Team.
Virginia One of Six Schools in Last 12 NCAA Tournaments
Virginia is one of six Division I baseball programs to reach the NCAA tournament each of the last 12 seasons (including 2015). The Cavaliers are one of three teams in the ACC to hold that distinction, joining Florida State and Miami. Top current NCAA tournament streaks: Miami (43), Florida State (38), Cal State Fullerton (24), Rice (21), Arkansas (13), Virginia (12).
Recapping the Cavaliers
Virginia comes into the CWS with a 39-22 record after winning five straight NCAA tournament games. As a No. 3 regional seed, the Cavaliers swept three games at the NCAA Lake Elsinore Regional before rallying for a pair of dramatic wins over Maryland last weekend in the NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional. Matt Thaiss leads the team in batting (.332), home runs (9) and RBI (60) this season and is batting .421 (8-for-19) in the NCAA tournament.
Noting Arkansas
Led by National Player of the Year Andrew Benintendi, the Razorbacks won the NCAA Stillwater Regional before ousting No. 8 national seed Missouri State in the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional to advance to Omaha for the first time since 2012. Benintendi has had a monster season, batting .380 with 19 homers and 55 RBI. Tyler Spoon also is batting .331, while as a team the Razorbacks are hitting .289. Arkansas boasts a team ERA of 4.08 and is fielding at a .976 clip.
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