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In a game that ended over six hours after it was scheduled to start, the Virginia Cavaliers defeated Southern California 14-10 to advance to next weekend's super regionals.
The beginning of the game was a dream for all the Cavalier fans. In the top of the first inning, UVa lead off with two singles followed up by two walks to take a 1-0 lead before an out was even recorded. Two sac flies and a USC error later, and UVa had a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.
Unfortunately, that lead did not last as Alec Bettinger was unable to record an out and surrendered five runs of his own to give USC the lead.
Things got uglier in the fourth inning as three straight UVa errors lead to four Trojan runs and ultimately, a 9-5 lead.
But UVa was not done.
A run in the sixth chipped into the lead.
In the 8th, still trailing 9-6, the Cavaliers rattled off two walks and a hit by pitch before first year Pavin Smith singled scoring two and allowing another to score as well after an error on the USC left fielder, tying the game up 9-9.
Both teams would go scoreless in the 9th and 10th innings, and the Hoos would finally put the game away in the 11th scoring five runs on three hits, three walks, and two key USC errors. Josh Sborz came in in the bottom half and surrendered a run, but he sealed up the game to earn his 14th save of the season.
While the offense came up big when it finally needed to, the key performances had to be from Tommy Doyle and David Rosenberger, who held USC scoreless over 6.2 innings.
The win gives UVa a spot in next weekend's Super Regionals, the program's sixth trip in the past seven seasons. With UCLA defeating Maryland last night (this morning) 4-2, UVa will have to wait yet another day to see who their opponent will be as those two will play a deciding game tonight. Should Maryland win, there is a very good chance that the Cavaliers would play in Charlottesville. If UCLA wins the game, UVa will have to stay in California another week and take on the #1 overall seed Bruins.