It has been a long winding road to crowning a champion in this year's College World Series for the Vanderbilt Commodores and Virginia Cavaliers. In a best of three series, it took all three to decide the who is college baseball's best. This was the first time since the TD Ameritrade Omaha Park opened in 2011 that the best of three championship series went the distance.
The Vanderbilt Commodores won game one 9-8. They held on after jumping out to 9-2 lead in the third inning. Vandy scored all nine runs in that third inning when Nathan Kirby (9-3 2.06 era) imploded and could not find the strike zone. Virginia battled back and almost caught the Commodores, but Vandy held on and won the all important first game. That put all the pressure on UVA in game two.
In game two Virginia's Brandon Waddell responded big time. Waddell pitched for a complete game 7-2 dominating victory. UVA shut out Vandy in 16 of 18 innings in the first two games, but only had a 1-1 split to show for it. That over powering performance forced a winner-take-all game three.
Vanderbilt got off to a hot start at the plate in the top of the first inning. Second baseman Dansby Swanson singled through the left side, and advanced to second a few batters later when left fielder Bryan Reynolds walked on 5 pitches. The Commodores then went and performed a double steal for second and third, and the Cavalier catcher, Robbie Coman, commited an error by overthrowing second base. Swanson came home to score and Reynolds advanced to third base, but then he was thrown out when centerfielder Brandon Downes made an excellent throw to third baseman Kenny Towns to get Reynolds out, keeping the Commodores from getting any extra runs in that inning.
Vanderbilt also made an excellent move putting Carson Fulmer on the mound, he went after the batters early on, striking out shortstop Daniel Pinero and first baseman Mike Papi in the bottom of the first inning.
The second started much differently. In the top of the second, reliever Artie Lewicki came in and sent Vandy right back to the dug out with no runs. In the bottom of the inning, UVA got their first base runner via the walk. Fulmer was called for a balk that sent the runner to second. An infield singe had runners on the corners with two outs and Brandon Downes at bat. After Vandy's catcher Ellison blocked numerous of potential wild pitches, Fulmer struck out Downes for his third K of the game and sent Vandy to the dugout with an early 1-0 lead after two.
The third was pretty quiet. Lewicki came back out for the third and had Vandy send five up. He finished the second and third with 38 pitches thrown. UVA went three up and three down to send it to the fourth still at 1-0 Vandy.
The fourth inning was fast on both ends. The top of the fourth Vandy's Ro Coleman sprayed a single with one out, putting the pressure on the Cav's defense with his speed. A timely double play ended the threat. Virginia's fourth started with Mike Papi flying out and ended with the Cavs second consecutive 1-2-3 inning and Fulmer on a roll.
The fifth inning saw Artie Lewicki come back out for his fourth inning of yeoman's work. He finished with just 63 pitches thrown and another 1-2-3 inning. UVA's offense came up looking to get something going against Carson Fulmer, a black belt in Tae Kwan Do. Every swing was way off and ten outs in a row sent UVA to the 6th down 1-0.
In the sixth inning, things just got more interesting. It started when center fielder John Norwood singled to third base, and Towns had a throwing error trying to get the ball to first. Norwood took advantage of this opportunity and advanced to second base to get in scoring position with only one out. On the next at bat, first baseman Zander Wiel grounded out to second base and Norwood would advance another 90 feet to third base. Another batter later shortstop Vince Conde singled through the left side, scoring Norwood from second to get an insurance run and to extend the lead to two runs. But that lead would not stay the same for long. Cavaliers got runs started with Coman hitting a single to right center field. Second baseman Branden Cogswell grounded to second and Coman was able to advance to second base on the play. Coman then scored on a single by the next batter, Pinero. Pinero was able to steal second base but that didn't really matter because Papi was able to draw a walk. That's when Fulmer was pulled from the game for Hayden Stone. Stone hit right fielder Joe McCarthy with a pitch, struck out Fisher, and struck out designated hitter John La Prise. But in between those strikeouts, all the runners advanced, scoring Pinero when Towns was safe at first by an error Conde. The game was all tied up at two with three innings left in regulation.
The top of the seventh would see if Vanderbilt could respond after squandering the lead. Lewicki came back out for the 7th and at pitches, he gave up a two out single and then promptly got out of trouble at 97 pitches on an inning ending strike out. The bottom of the inning saw the lead off man getting bunted over to second for the top of the line up. With two outs Pinero struck out, leaving the game at two a piece.
The eigth inning for Vanderbilt saw John Norwood drill a solo home run that gave Vanderbilt a 3-2 lead over rp Nick Howard. Zander Weil, from Murfreesboro, Tennesee came up after that bomb and grounded out to third as the crowd was still in shock. It was Vandy's first home run in Omaha. The Cavs came to the plate in the bottom of the 8th and Haden Stone on the hill. Mike Papi led it off with a single between short and third. McCarthy then drew a walk to make it first and second with nobody out. That would run Stone from the game and Vandy would put Adam Ravenelle in. A great stab by Zander Weil would keep runners at second and third and one out. Kenny Towns was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Dh John La Prise then grounded to the pitcher and a force play at the plate. Virginia's Brandon Downs ended the inning with a weak grounder to short.
With it all on the line, Vandy started the ninth up 3-2. They got one on, but nothing else as they would head to the bottom of the 9th and just three outs from their first national title. The Cavaliers tried to comeback in the bottom half of the inning though, and they almost succeeded. Papi hit a single to left field. Then McCarthy walked on four straight pitches. Those would be the final four pitches thrown by Stone, who was now pulled from the game for Adam Ravenelle. Fisher laid down a bunt to put both runners in scoring position. Ravenelle got away with what could have been a major mistake, hitting Towns with a pitch on the next at bat. Bases loaded with only one out, La Prise hit it right back to Ravenelle who got the force out, getting Papi at home. Downes hit the next ball to short to get La Prise out at second base to end the inning. Ravenelle closed up shop well in the bottom of the ninth as well, getting Cogswell and Pinero to strike out as they were the last two batters of the season. This game puts the Vanderbilt Commodores at 51-21 on the season, and they are the NCAA Division 1 National Champions for Baseball in 2014. Their battle cry "Anchor Down" could be heard through out Omaha, Nebraska and the college baseball world.