For the first time in program history the University of Virginia baseball program will host a super-regional in Charlottesville. A proud day for myself and every other UVa baseball alumni and current player who knew that we have always had the talent to be a national power we just never caught the correct breaks. Well this year, the team made its own breaks and will play the Big XII's(or is it Big X or VI?) Oklahoma Sooners for a chance to play in Omaha at the College World Series.
Oklahoma comes into the Super-Regional having swept their regional in Norman, Oklahoma last weekend. They beat Oral Roberts and UNC three times by 1 run each to advance to this weekend. As a side note, not only did the Sooners dogpile after they won their regional(regional no-no) but they also had Regional Champions shirts made. I don't know what that says to you but it shows me that they're happy with just winning their regional and that in itself was an accomplishment. For shame Sooners....For shame.
Today when Oklahoma and the Hoos face off Danny will need to establish dominance early. Like much of the Big XII, the Sooner are a good hitting team and thrive on home runs. Although, I am not sure if they are such a great hitting team or they just haven't played great competition. The Sooners were swept by Texas fairly easily in their 3 game weekend series and no other Big XII team made the supers. On the offensive side, the Hoos will want to hit early and hit often. If they can welcome Oklahoma with a barrage of line drives, bunts, and steals I think it will crush the Sooners psyche and get into their bullpen pretty quickly.
The Sooners should be pretty intimidated coming into Charlottesville. The Dav will be sold out both(or 3)games and filled to the brim with nearly 5,000 UVa loving fans(or bandwagon fans). After their regional last weekend the Norman media asked UNC coach Mike Fox what he thought of the Sooners chances of beating UVa and advancing to Omaha. Not wanting to offend anyone he didn't say what he really meant but his underlying message was: Oklahoma doesn't stand a chance unless UVa is off their game and the Sooners play like the Atlanta Braves. You can see the article here: http://bit.ly/aVnTIM
My personal outlook: I think Danny rights the ship and gets back to his early season pitching ways and the Hoos are strong and disciplined at the plate. Hoos win 8-4