Notebook: O'Connor's risky ninth-inning moves panned out

With a 53-win season in his pocket, how can someone truly question the moves made by Virginia coach Brian O’Connor?

Had Monday’s game played out in a different fashion, many would have done just that.

With two runners on base in the ninth inning and the Cavaliers down to their final out, the skipper pulled fan favorite Keith Werman for pinch hitter Reed Gragnani.

The replacement, a sophomore that had been on the bench the entire series, was thrust into the biggest baseball moment of his life as Werman retreated from the on-deck circle and was forced to watch from the dugout.

The numbers explained it as Werman is batting just .210, a staggering number after he hit .414 last year and .400 in limited time as a rookie.

“Coach Oak did what he did all year and decided to put Reed in there and take me out,” Werman said. “It was a great move by Coach Oak and I understand exactly why he did it.”

Gragnani drew a four-pitch walk, sparing Werman and other from playing the guessing game for decades.

Chris Taylor followed with the game-winning single that propelled Virginia into the College World Series for the second time in three years.

“Chris Taylor was due after what happened in the top-half of the ninth,” Werman said. “CT was upset at himself that he didn’t catch the ball that was thrown to second by John Hicks on Irvine’s sac bunt.”

The Anteaters scored a run in the frame to put Virginia in a dire situation because Taylor elected to turn a double play with runners at first and third with no outs.

“I thought he did the right thing,” said Werman, who flipped the relay throw to first for a double play. “He saw out of his peripherals that he didn’t have a shot at home and we just got the double play.

“That’s just handling the baseball and doing the fundamentals.”

Despite trailing 2-1 as Virginia prepped for its final three chances, Werman felt confident that he would make his second trip to the College World Series.

His demeanor never changed as the Cavaliers recorded the first two outs.

“We always have a shot,” he said. “It was only one run. Irvine did it to us the game before after we took the lead and they bounced back. You just never know with us.”

Taking home the honors

Three pitchers were honored on Wednesday, drawing All-American honors.

Danny Hultzen, Branden Kline and Will Roberts were selected on both or a single team.

For Hultzen, the honor marks his third and he becomes the first Cavalier in program history to become a three-time All-American. He was selected as a first-team selection by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Kline, Virginia’s closer, was a first-team reliever and Roberts drew second-team accolades.

Hoos the favorite at CWS?

At least one web site has tracked the winning probabilities for teams in the eight-team College World Series field.

According to boydsworld.com, Virginia is the favorite to win Pool B and to take the overall title in Omaha.

The chances of the Cavaliers advancing to the championship round are projected at 43.8 percent, a figure that was determined using the iterative strength ratings to date. South Carolina (37.5 percent), Texas A&M (10.9) and Cal (7.7) round out the pool that includes the Cavs.

In Pool A, the probabilities are tighter with four national seeds (No. 2 Florida, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Texas) still alive. The computer calculations placed the chances of advancing to the title round in following order: Vanderbilt (36.8 percent), UNC (34.6), Florida (17.7) and Texas (10.9).

Virginia has the highest odds to hoist the College World Series trophy, standing at 23.4 percent, and is followed by Vanderbilt (21.1), UNC (20.9), South Carolina (16.9), Florida (8.3), Texas (4.7), Texas A&M (4.7) and Cal (1.7).