College World Series 2015: CWS Finals Game 3 Time and TV Coverage Info
For the second straight season, Virginia and Vanderbilt are playing a winner-take-all game in the College World Series. The Cavaliers forced Wednesday's Game 3 with a 3-0 victory in the second game.
It was also a notable defeat for Vanderbilt, which had made it through the first nine games of the NCAA tournament without a loss. While being able to boast a 10-0 record and back-to-back national titles would have made a great story, the Commodores can "settle" for the national title with a win.
Virginia is seeking its first College World Series title in school history in its second championship series appearance.
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Here's all the pertinent viewing information to prepare for Wednesday's showdown between the Cavaliers and Commodores.
| Wednesday, June 24 | 8 p.m. | ESPN | ESPN3.com |
Pitching Matchup: LHP Brandon Waddell (Virginia) vs. RHP Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt)
As one would expect for such a huge matchup, Virginia head coach Brian O'Connor and Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin are going with two experienced veterans in Game 3.
Brandon Waddell is a junior who has been on the mound for four wins during Virginia's College World Series runs the last two years. The left-hander hasn't had a stellar 2015 season overall, boasting a career-worst 4.02 ERA and 110 hits allowed in 103 innings.
However, Virginia has already received star-making efforts in this brief series with Thomas Woodruff getting a two-run single in the sixth inning of Game 2.
O'Connor told ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman that under-the-radar players have to step up for a team to compete for a championship.
"I'm a big believer that to be in this position, to compete for a national championship," O'Connor said, "you need guys to rise to the occasion that maybe hadn't yet. Anything can happen. And it doesn't surprise me, because I know how hard these two individuals work."
Waddell isn't an obscure player on Virginia's roster, but he needs to build on his last outing against Florida in which he allowed four runs on six hits in five innings.
On the other side, Buehler would be the ace for many teams in the country. The right-hander has a 2.85 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 85.1 innings this season. Most teams don't have Carson Fulmer in the rotation, so Corbin can boast two top-tier starting pitchers.
Buehler was terrific in his last outing against TCU on June 19, allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
Waddell and Buehler may not have a leash as long as they normally do because both are pitching on short rest—Waddell on three days and Buehler on four days.
If pitch counts come into play, that figures to be bad news for Buehler, who can get himself in trouble with a lack of command at times, walking 26 this year, so look for Virginia to be patient and work the pitch count up to get into Vanderbilt's bullpen early.
Prediction
Virginia has developed a tendency to play with fire in the NCAA tournament, and that's held true so far in this series.
According to NCAA.com, 38 of Virginia's 53 runs in the postseason have come after the fifth inning, and the team has scored the winning run after the sixth inning six times in nine victories.
Prior to Tuesday, Vanderbilt's offense had been on a roll. The Commodores scored 70 runs in their first nine tournament games. Key players such as Dansby Swanson, Rhett Wiseman and Jeren Kendall were held in check during Game 2, going a combined 2-for-9 with two singles and two walks.
Virginia's pitching staff didn't allow an extra-base hit in that 3-0 victory. That's the kind of effort it will need on Wednesday to capture a championship.
Given how well Vanderbilt had been playing prior to last night and the short rest for Waddell, odds favor the Commodores winning another title. It's going to be a close battle between two terrific teams, but the result will be the same as it was last year.
Vanderbilt 4, Virginia 2
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