The Virginia Cavaliers and California Irvine Anteaters will meet at 1pm Monday in a winner-take-all Super Regional Game 3 courtesy of a 6-4 UC Irvine win Sunday. Virginia was leading 3-0 in the fifth inning when Mother Nature intervened, causing a four hour and 18 minute weather delay. When the two teams returned to the field, the tired cliche "it was a whle new ballgame" could not have been more true.
The Anteaters had been sloppy in the field and woeful at the bat in falling behind 3-0, allowing two unearned runs and getting only one batter to third base. But after the delay, left fielder Drew Hillman hit a home run, UC Irvine's first runs in two games against the Cavaliers. Momentum had shifted, and the Anteaters added two runs in the seventh and three in the eight off the Virginia bullpen, while Irvine freshman Andrew Thurman held the Cavaliers at bay in his four post-delay innings, allowing only one run on three hits.
It's a do-or-die Game 3, 1:00 P.M. Monday at Davenport Field. A loss by the Cavaliers before reaching Omaha and the College World Series would be a tremendous disappointment for a Virginia team that excelled in the NCAA regular season, garnering the top seed in this year's tournament.