College World Series 2021: TV, Live-Stream Schedule and Game Times for Thursday

The Virginia Cavaliers will try to win their second game over a top-three seed to stay alive at the 2021 College World Series on Thursday.

The unseeded ACC side opened its run in Omaha, Nebraska, with a fantastic win over the third-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, who were then dumped out of the competition by the Texas Longhorns in one of the first two elimination contests.

Texas' bats woke up in its first losers' bracket game against Tennessee, plating eight runs after the Mississippi State Bulldogs held it to one in the opener.

The Virginia-Texas winner will advance to the semifinal round to play Mississippi State. That team will need to beat the Bulldogs twice to move on to the championship series.

Thursday College World Series Info

No. 2 Texas vs. Virginia (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Game can be live-streamed on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.

Preview

Virginia are aiming to set up an all ACC-SEC semifinals with a win over Texas.

The NC State Wolfpack won both of their games in the top half of the bracket, and they will face the Vanderbilt Commodores for a spot in the championship series.

For Virginia to get into the position to advance, it needs another strong start from its pitching. Griff McGarry gave up two earned runs on one hit in 7.1 innings of work Tuesday against Mississippi State, but that was ruined by an awful bullpen performance.

Matt Wyatt has been the only effective Virginia reliever inside TD Ameritrade Park, as he threw three scoreless frames in relief of Andrew Abbott in its first game to take down Tennessee.

The normally reliable Stephen Schoch lasted one-third of an inning in the Mississippi State loss, but if he can be more effective behind Mike Vasil, the Cavaliers should be in a good spot to stay alive.

Texas maintained its position in Omaha through an eight-run performance against Tennessee in which it scored on seven occasions in the first four innings. If the Longhorns get off to another fast start, they should feel secure about remaining in Nebraska for another few days.

The Longhorns bullpen should be fresh outside of Tanner Witt, who was marvelous in 5.2 innings of relief behind Tristan Stevens on Tuesday. Pete Hansen is the only other Longhorns reliever to throw in Omaha. He worked two scoreless frames against Mississippi State.

Hansen could go back on the mound to start Thursday's contest. He was Texas' Game 3 starter in the regional round. The Longhorns did not need a third starter in the super regional portion of the NCAA baseball tournament. Hansen conceded a single earned run over 6.2 innings against the Fairfield Stags on June 6.

Whomever Texas throws in will oppose a fresh Vasil, who worked three innings in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Vasil's only start in the regional round lasted two innings, as he allowed five earned runs to the Jacksonville Dolphins.

How Vasil starts could decide which way the contest goes. If he begins well, Virginia could look to bridge the gap to Schoch, who came in for multi-inning outings in other NCAA tournament games. However, if Texas follows Jacksonville's lead and gets to Vasil, the Longhorns could be in a good position to set up a rematch with Mississippi State.

Statistics obtained from D1Baseball.com.