College World Series 2015: Time and TV Schedule for Vanderbilt vs. UVA
Time is a flat circle, and the Virginia Cavaliers and Vanderbilt Commodores are once again meeting in the College World Series championship.
It even looks as though the 2015 edition could have the same outcome as the 2014 series. The Commodores picked up a 5-1 victory Monday night to take a 1-0 edge in the best-of-three series. Vandy also took Game 1 last year before winning the title in three games.
The Cavaliers' CWS livelihood will be on the line Tuesday night.
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| 8 p.m. | Virginia | Vanderbilt | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
One aspect of Game 1 that had to encourage Vanderbilt and send a serious scare through Virginia was the performance of Dansby Swanson. The No. 1 overall pick in the MLB draft had gone 1-for-13 at the plate with five strikeouts in his team's three victories in Omaha.
Swanson was actually questioned as to whether the draft and his pro future had him looking too far ahead rather than focusing on the College World Series. He quickly denied that such was the case.
"It's pretty easy to forget everything that's going on outside," he said Sunday, per David Climer of the Tennessean. "The people with Arizona have been good about it. I told them, 'I'm going to go play in the College World Series,' and they said, 'Absolutely. Focus on that.' They understand how much this means to me."
Obviously, his previous mini-slump hadn't derailed the Commodores, but you figured he'd need to find his stroke at some point.
On Monday, Swanson went 2-for-4, driving in a run on a double in the bottom of the seventh inning (via NCAA Baseball):
If the Golden Spikes Award finalist carries that over into Tuesday night, Virginia could be in serious trouble.
No matter what Swanson does, though, the Cavaliers won't stand a chance if they can't muster more offense than they did Monday night. One run on four hits isn't going to get it done against a team as good as Vanderbilt.
Matt Thaiss, Daniel Pinero and Pavin Smith were Virginia's top three hitters entering the game. They went a combined 0-for-11.
It's not as if they were the only guys who struggled against Carson Fulmer. ESPN Stats & Info noted just how dominant the junior right-hander was on the mound:
D1Baseball.com's Aaron Fitt continues to be impressed with Fulmer's overall body of work with Vanderbilt:
In retrospect, nobody should be surprised that Fulmer shut down the Cavaliers as he did. Offense was a major concern for Virginia entering the NCAA tournament. As a team, the Cavaliers are 143rd in scoring (5.4 runs per game) and 172nd in slugging percentage (.376).
The good news for Virginia is that Philip Pfeifer will be taking the bump for Vanderbilt in Game 2. This is good news because Pfeifer is neither Fulmer nor Walker Buehler, Vanderbilt's Game 3 starter.
The junior left-hander is 6-4 on the year with a 3.77 earned run average. In 90.2 innings, he walked 43 batters and struck out 112.
The specter of Buehler in Game 3 obviously looms large, but Virginia can't get hung up on that. The Cavaliers will never have it easier against Vanderbilt pitching than they will Tuesday night.
Virginia should be much better offensively in Game 2, but you still have to wonder if that will be enough, especially if Swanson's Game 1 output is a sign of things to come in the rest of the series.
Note: All team stats are courtesy of NCAA.com.
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