Vanderbilt vs. Virginia final score, College World Series 2015: Hoos extend series with 3-0 win

Even for a team who’s postseason run has been defined by its ability to scratch and claw, Virginia’s 3-0, series-extending win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night was about as scrappy an outing as could be imagined. Scraping the bottom of its pitching barrel, the Wahoos got an incredible five innings from a freshman making just his fifth career start, then used a lucky bounce, a ball off a defender’s glove and three RBIs from the bottom of their order to take the lead in a game that no one gave them a chance to win.

It was the most Virginia victory you could possibly imagine, and it sets up a winner-takes-all Game 3 on Wednesday night with the national championship on the line.

With two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the sixth, a slow roller off the bat of Virginia’s Kevin Doherty looked like it would end a quiet inning. But the ball caromed off the right side of second base and kicked into shallow right to extend the frame. In the next at-bat, a grounder with wicked top spin skipped off the glove of Vandy first baseman Zander Wiel to load the bases. Virginia then got back-to-back singles from its No. 8 and 9 hitters -- freshman Ernie Clement and senior walk-on Thomas Woodruff -- to take a 3-0 lead.

Vandy’s Philip Pfeifer had been nearly unhittable to that point, but finished with eight hits, three runs allowed and the loss.

It was a game that most figured was over the second Cavs skipper Brian O’Connor named freshman Adam Haseley as his starter. Haseley, a two-way player that also led off the lineup as the DH, had only started four games all season, the last of which was over a month ago. Best case scenario, it seemed, Haseley would have his team within striking distance when he came off the mound after a few innings.

Instead, the freshman lasted five innings, giving up just four hits and keeping the game locked at 0.

With a runner on and the MLB Draft’s No. 1 overall selection, Dansby Swanson, coming to the plate for the third time against Haseley, O’Connor finally made the move to Sborz, the shutdown reliever who many thought would get the start on Tuesday. After working through the top of the sixth, Sborz was handed the 3-0 run lead in the bottom of the frame.

Sborz was a workhorse, throwing over 70 pitches as he worked the final four frames to close the win. He has now worked 27 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

Not only did Virginia’s surprisingly effective pitching extend the series, it gives them a shot in Game 3. O’Connor didn’t have to call on Nathan Kirby, the ace who’s still working his way back from a muscle strain in his throwing arm and made his first start in months against Florida last week. He likely won’t put up long innings (he lasted less than three against the Gators) but they’ll be innings that Virginia never expected to have from him in the close-out game.

Vandy, who will throw first-round pick Walker Buehler in Game 3, is still in much better pitching shape, and is therefore still a heavy favorite to dog pile on Wednesday (which is what happened last year after the Hoos won Game 2). But as Tuesday night proved, you can never count out this Virginia team.