NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Virginia Vs. UC Irvine Preview

This was supposed to be the feature Super Regional in the NCAA Baseball Championship. It was going to be the Super Regional that everyone had their eyes on. Star power galore and conference champions from two of the nation’s top leagues. This wasn’t just any kind of star power. This was elite star power.

This was going to be the top three picks in the MLB Draft. Gerrit Cole, Danny Hultzen and Trevor Bauer. UCLA vs. Virginia for a spot in the College World Series. That is what it was supposed to be, but UC Irvine had other thoughts.

The Anteaters went to Los Angeles and took down the Bruins. They ended the careers of number one overall pick Gerrit Cole and number three overall pick Trevor Bauer, and they did it in dramatic fashion. Trailing 3-2 going to the ninth inning, Irvine put together a rally to score a tying run before Ronnie Shaeffer poked one into right field for a walk off single that won the Anteaters the Regional.

It was an incredible comeback for the Anteaters and a great moment for the program. A decade ago they didn’t even have a baseball team, but they revived it and by 2007 they were in the College World Series. Since head coach Dave Serrano left to take the Cal St. Fullerton job, they haven’t quite reached the same heights, but now they’re knocking on the door of the College World Series yet again.

Irvine may be knocking on the door, but knocking down that door will not be an easy task considering they are going up against the No. 1 national seed. Virginia is like Irvine in that they basically didn’t have a program a decade ago. Sure, they had a decent year or two here or there, but there wasn’t much quality baseball being played in Charlottesville.

Then Brian O’Connor came around and took over as head coach. He started to recruit with the top teams in the region and when you can recruit with the best, you can play with the best. Heading into the 2004, the Cavaliers had only been to the postseason three times in their history. Since then, they’ve been in every postseason. They’ve won conference titles and they went to the College World Series in 2009.

Now they’re favorites to win the national title. Led by the number two overall pick in Monday’s MLB Draft, Danny Hultzen, the Cavaliers have run through their schedule to the rune of 52-9. They didn’t lose a series all year until the final weekend of the season, but bounced back to sweep through the ACC Tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. They backed that up with a 3-0 Regional in which they outscored their opponents 29-3.

For the season, Virginia averages 7.2 runs per game. That’s a good, but not amazing number. It’s surely does the job when you lead the nation in runs allowed per game at just 2.7 though, like Virginia does. So they hit, they definitely pitch and oh yeah, the Cavs are sixth in the nation in fielding percentage. Number one national seed, deserved.

Going up against the Cavaliers won’t be easy for Irvine and they are clear underdogs. You would be hard pressed to find anyone picking the Anteaters this weekend, but that doesn’t mean they are without a chance. Third baseman Brian Hernandez hit .351 this year and is one of the best defensive players in the country. Matt Summers went from centerfielder to pitcher and looks pretty good doing it with a sub-.200 ERA. Add in a coach in Mike Gillespie who has won a national title and at the very least Irvine will go down swinging.

Saturday, 1 pm ET (ESPNU): Danny Hultzen (11-3, 1.57 ERA) vs. Matt Summers (11-2, 1.72 ERA)- There isn’t much to say about Hultzen that his numbers don’t. He’s one of the best pitchers in the country and he does it without a great fastball, but good breaking stuff and an ability to spot every pitch. Summers doesn’t have the prettiest arm action, but he spots his fastball well and can break off a knee buckling curveball.

Sunday, 1 pm ET (ESPNU): Tyler Wilson (8-0, 2.34 ERA) vs. Matt Whitehouse (4-0, 2.14 ERA)- Wilson is not a guy who will wow you, but he’s a senior who knows how to pitch and with a lot of pitches diving down, that’s all it takes to get outs. Whitehouse isn’t going to open any eyes with his fastball, but he has good breaking stuff and will ride it as long as he can.

Monday, TBD (ESPN2/ESPNU): Will Roberts (11-1, 1.61 ERA) vs. Andrew Thurman (3-3, 3.91 ERA)- As far as number three starters go, Roberts is as good as it gets. The record and ERA will impress and he also threw a perfect game earlier this season. Not too shabby. Meanwhile, Irvine doesn’t really have a third starter, using different guys in different weeks and leaning on a good bullpen to help out whoever starts.

Can the UC Irvine pitching stop the Virginia offense? The Cavs can hit, but they aren’t amazing and since the Virginia pitching staff shutting down whoever they play is almost a guarantee, the Anteaters will have to slow a Virginia offense that can be had.