OMAHA, Neb. – With a walk-off RBI double, Mike Papi lifted (3) Virginia over Ole Miss 2-1 in the opening round of the 2014 Men’s College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Nate Irving led off with a walk. Branden Cogswell bunted him into scoring position with a sacrifice, but Daniel Pinero struck out for the second out. With a full count, Papi drove the ball deep into right center, scoring Irving to end the game.
It was Papi’s second career walk-off hit and a fitting end to UVa’s first CWS game since losing on a walk-off error in 2011.
Reliever Artie Lewicki (7-1) picked up the win for Virginia, retiring all six batters he faced and striking out one.
In what has become a tradition for the CWS at TD Ameritrade Park, the game was showcase of pitching and defense. In nine innings, Virginia faced just three batters over the minimum. All three were walks. Together, Lewicki and starter Nathan Kirby gave up one hit, combining for the first CWS one-hitter since 1983.
Kirby finished seven innings plus two batters with one run on one hit, struck out three and walked four.
Virginia clung to a 1-0 lead until Ole Miss tied it up in the top of the eighth. Sikes Orvis and Colby Bortles led the inning off with a pair of walks, chasing Kirby out of the game. Errol Robinson sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Preston Overbey’s groundout to short drove Orvis home.
Aaron Greenwood (3-2) took the loss for the Rebels, allowing one run on one hit in his 1.2 innings. Starter Chris Ellis went six innings, giving up six hits but allowing just one run to score.
The Cavaliers first got on the board in the fifth inning. Irving and Cogswell started the rally with a pair of singles, but Pinero hit a line drive at the second baseman, who threw to first for the double play. Ole Miss intentionally walked Papi, and Joe McCarthy drove an RBI single into center field to plate Irving.
UVa threatened to tack on a couple of insurance runs in the seventh, when Pinero reached on a fielder’s choice and Papi hit an infield single. With two outs, Derek Fisher hit a ball deep to center. Ole Miss’s Auston Bousfield made a spectacular sprinting catch to end the rally.
In all, Virginia left 11 runners on base in the game.
Shortstop Errol Robinson got Ole Miss’s only hit in the third inning with a line drive up the middle, but he was caught in a rundown while trying to steal second. The Rebels didn’t have another baserunner until Overbey walked in the sixth.
Virginia moves on to face (7) TCU in the winner’s bracket on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central. Ole Miss faces elimination against Texas Tech at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Be sure to check out our other coverage from Virginia’s walk-off victory:
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