The Virginia baseball team entered the 2011 College World Series ranked fourth in the country in fielding percentage (.980). Unfortunately, this defensive excellence did not carry over to their games in Omaha, as the Cavaliers committed seven errors in four games, the final flaws being two throwing errors in the 13th inning Friday night of a 3-2 loss to South Carolina that ended Virginia's season.
The scapegoat? Reliever Cody Winiarski, who made two terrible throws on back-to-back bunts in that fateful thirteenth inning. Winiarski first threw wildly to second, trying to get South Carolina's Adam Matthews out on teammate Peter Mooney's sacrifice bunt. The final blow came when Winiarski again tried to get Matthews out, this time at third after a Robert Beary bunt. The UVA reliever's throw was low, and got by the third baseman, allowing Matthews to score the winning run.
Winiarski was a stand-up kid after the game, basically saying he blew it on simple throws he practices every day:
"It's simple. They wanted to get an out (on sacrifices), and we weren't able to capitalize on that and just take what they were giving to us," Winiarski said. "Those are plays we practice every day in practice and just didn't execute."
That's a tough way for a great season to end. Maybe next time his teammates can help him out and not go two for 21 with runners in scoring position.
The final, fatal toss can be seen at the 1:55 mark: