GAME THREAD: College World Series Game 3, Virginia vs. Florida

Virginia Cavaliers (41-22, 2-0 CWS) vs. #4 Florida Gators (51-17, 2-1 CWS)

Time: 3:00pm
Date: June 19, 2015
Place: TD Ameritrade Park (Omaha, NE)
TV: ESPN2 | WatchESPN
Radio: CavaliersLive | Westwood One

Spread: Bovada: UVa (+180); Florida (-220)
Last Meeting: Virginia 1, Florida 0 (June 16, 2015)

Nathan Kirby is back and the Cavaliers look to ride their recent hot streak back to the College World Series Finals when they take on the Florida Gators today at 3pm. Florida is the highest ranked team still standing in Omaha, and they earned their rematch with the Cavaliers by defeating Miami 10-2 Wednesday night, a game in which they hit four home runs.  While Florida has scored 25 runs thus far in the CWS, Kirby, who is making his first start since April 17th, will look to replicate Brandon Waddell's lockdown performance from Tuesday night when the Hoos shutout the Gators and held them to just two hits in a 1-0 victory.

The Cavaliers will likely need more than just 1 run to prevail today, but Kirby has pitched in big stages before and will be looking for redemption after last year's rough start against Vanderbilt in the CWS Finals.  Kirby was expected to serve as a reliever in Omaha, and while no pitch limit has been specified it's likely he'll be kept on a fairly short leas.  An early start will be key for UVa and if the Hoos can take a lead through the sixth inning, don't be surprised to see Josh Sborz out there gunning for a three inning save.

Overall the Cavaliers are playing with house money as a loss still gives them another shot against the Gators, but you can bet that Brian O'Connor and the Virginia fans would love to see them close it out today and have their full rotation available for the Finals.