Virginia and Vanderbilt are playing in the CWS Finals on Tuesday for Game 2 on ESPN and streaming live from WatchESPN online as the College World Series continues and the Commodores are up 1-0 in the series into Game 2 over the Cavaliers and now this is an elimination game in Omaha and things are live at 8 pm from TD Ameritrade Park.
Virginia has been pitching lights out, but they finally were tagged on Monday and while the Cavaliers did a good job of coming back and making it a close game, it wasn't enough and now they are facing elimination again and will have to find a way to bounce back. Virginia made their way back after going down in the matchup and things ended up 9-8 in Game 1 of the CWS and now Game 2 has all the pressure on Vanderbilt, as Virginia can even things up with a win and that would make it a one game shot for the title.
Vanderbilt scored nine runs in the third and finally got to starter Nathan Kirby and this came after the Cavs were lights out from the mound leading into the finals of the CWS. The team was held scoreless the rest of the way and in the first two innings and Virginia slowly built back up the lead and now Vandy has the chance to finish things off. Tyler Campbell has been one of the heroes for Vanderbilt and he had a huge hit against Texas earlier in the tournament after coming in when a player was down for NCAA rules violations and he came in with only 21 bats to his name this season.
Vandy has not won a championship in a men's sport before and this will be their next chance and the Cavaliers are hoping to play on Wednesday for another game. Dansby Swanson said the team knows what's at stake and that Virginia is a good team and they will not take their lead for granted. Virginia has two more wins this season and they were down seven runs and came back by adding three runs, two runs and one run over various innings to get the deficit down, but it wasn't enough and now they don't have much room for error.
Texas was looking good coming in and they defeated Vanderbilt before the finals in their first game before falling in the double elimination set and now the Commodores are one win from a championship. Virginia has never won a title before in baseball and they are pitching very well and will need that the rest of the way here.
Vanderbilt reliever John Kilichowski made a great play to help preserve the lead, as the Cavs were down one and he was able to stop a quick comebacker to the mound, putting his foot on it and it stopped the ball from becoming a hit. The 64 team field is now down to two and these teams are playing hard in Omaha and this was the highest scoring game in a while in a tournament that has not seen a ton of runs.
Check here for the Virginia and Vanderbilt College World Series live coverage from ESPN online from Omaha.