Cavalier Corner

"Going through those ups and downs, we were kind of able to become a tougher team, a more resilient team. And I think that showed for us in the postseason." It showed when Virginia and Vanderbilt met for a rematch of last year's championship series. The Commodores won in 2014, two games to one, and entered 2015 matchup as a prohibitive favorite. Unlike last year, the Cavaliers lost game one in the best-of-three showdown and now faced the daunting task of winning two straight from a Commodores team with first- and third-round MLB Draft picks prepared to start the final two tilts. In addition, they boasted arguably the na- tion's top bullpen, rested and ready for action. But the Hoos would not be denied. First-year left-hander Adam Haseley's five in- nings of shutout baseball in game two paved the way for Sborz, the CWS MVP, to toss a four- inning save and tie the series. Clement's go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning plated the only run Virginia would need in its 3-0 shutout of Vander- bilt. In the title game, Virginia continued its come- from-behind ways. O'Connor turned to Waddell as his starter on the mound. Like the up-and-down season, the night didn't start well when the lefty allowed two runs in the first inning. But he even- tually settled down, allowing just two hits and three base runners after the first, and retiring the last 11 hitters he faced. Waddell knew if he could keep the opponents' bats in check, his offense would come through. "It's just a matter of taking a breath, getting your mind right and kind of simplifying things," he explained. "I knew what I had to do. So it's a matter of going out there and executing. I knew 2-0 wasn't going to be the final score. I knew our offense was going to score. At that point it was a matter of trying to keep them to two, keeping our team in the ball game as long as I could." Waddell was right. The Cavs tied the title game in the fourth in- ning, took the lead in the fifth and added some insurance in the seventh. Then O'Connor turned the game over to Kirby, who closed out the series and his UVa career in style by shutting down the Commodores with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five. In winning the rubber match 4-2, the Hoos be- came the first team to rally from a two-run deficit to win a championship game since Cal State Ful- lerton did it in 2004 against Texas. "It was a very gutty performance by their team and their pitching staff to allow them to get to this point and be successful," Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said. "I thought Waddell — in a lot of ways — was left for dead, but he just got himself up in the fifth, sixth and seventh. He turned the game around." During their unlikely run to the title, the Hoos became only the third champion to lose their first game of the CWS championship series and then win the next two games, joining Oregon State (2006) and Fresno State (2008). The Beavers and Bulldogs were also the only previous No. 3 or No. 4 regional seeds to win a CWS title. Virginia went 10-2 in the NCAA Tournament, trailed in nine games and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning or later in all 10 postseason vic- tories. They also pushed across 40 of their 57 runs in the NCAA Tournament after the fifth. Seven of Virginia's 10 tourney wins were by two runs or fewer and in the seven CWS games in Omaha, the Cavaliers tallied 24 two-out hits, which resulted in 15 two-out runs. Virginia director of athletics Craig Littlepage said what he would remember most about this team was how everyone stepped up when called upon. "I think the unique aspect of this team was we not only had these disruptions and distractions in terms of injuries, but they were injuries to multiple key players," he said. "Time after time,

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