The Hoos won yesterday the only way they know how to continue their miraculous season. They won with tough pitching, clutch hitting, aggressive baserunning, and stellar fielding. All those have characterized what Coach O'Connor has been preaching throughout his tenure in Charlottesville.
Branden Kline truly did give a great pitching performance in his biggest start of his career to this point. A first-year on the mound in the NCAA tournament, pitching for his team's life in the tournament would cause many in the NCAA to fold under the pressure but not Kline. After Kline ran out gas the Hoos turned to the closer who has closed out games for the past 2 years. Arico gave his longest outing of the year and for what I can remember, his longest since his first-year with the team.
After eliminating the Red Storm of St. John's and overcoming Ole Miss and VCU in the regional, the Hoos will now focus on taking on the Oklahoma Sooners. This will be the first time the Sooners and Cavs have played since 1999 where UVa won 12-4. Oklahoma comes into the weekend after beating UNC in the Oklahoma regional.
Before the weekend begins many of Cavalier players will be watching the Major League Draft intently. I would expect to see 6 or 7 Cavs get their name called over the next few days and hopefully a few will get the call today in the earlier rounds. Even though the draft is this week, don't look for the players who are drafted to allow that to affect their focus on Oklahoma or the task at hand: winning a national championship.