Brian O'Connor sums up the careers of Kyle Teel, Jake Gelof after Virginia's loss in CWS

Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor had to sum up the careers of Kyle Teel and Jake Gelof following the Cavaliers’ season ending loss.

TCU took down Virginia 4-3 in an elimination game in the College World Series. Virginia went 0-2 in the CWS this year, losing to Florida 6-5 in its opening game.

Safe to say, it was tough to swallow for O’Connor as the Cavaliers were oh-so-close to a win in both contests.

“I’m disappointed for them that they didn’t get a chance to play deeper in this and for the two of them to really show their ability,” O’Connor said postgame. “And, so, here in Omaha, that said, the careers that those two guys had are right up there with some of the best that we’ve had in my tenure here.

“Jake Gelof has broken so many offensive records, home run records, RBI records. We wouldn’t be sitting here today without him. And Kyle Teel was just a really, really special, talented player. The results didn’t show in these two games the impact that those two young men have had in our program and their entire careers, but especially this year. And certainly they will be missed.”

However, the impact of Gelof and Teel will never be forgotten.

“But the way they performed in our uniform teaches the younger players what the standard is for success in our program,” O’Connor said. And for that I’ll be forever grateful to them for their contributions wearing our uniform.”

Gelof finished 0-for-4 against TCU but drove in a run for the Cavaliers while Teel went 0-for-5 as the two hammers in the middle couldn’t quite get it going against the Horned Frogs.

“Candidly, I hate losing either way, whether it’s by one or five,” O’Connor said. “But the one-run games always comes down to, a lot of times, a big pitch, like I said, a clutch hit there maybe in the ninth to tie the game and other opportunities. Listen, this game was defined, in my opinion, by we had too many one-two-three innings offensively, that we just weren’t competitive enough in our approach in those at-bats.”

Gelof and Teel contributed to a stout defensive performance though. But as O’Connor said, the offense couldn’t break through when the team needed it in the end.

“And I thought we did a terrific job managing the innings from a pitching and defensive standpoint,” O’Connor said. “I think TCU probably left 12, 14 runners on base. And that’s a testament to our guys that they buckled down and didn’t let the big inning happen. And that gave us a chance.

“It comes down to those little fine details in Omaha. Everybody has talent. Everybody earned the right to be here. It just comes down to guys rising up in key moments. That doesn’t take away from who our players are. Sometimes you just don’t do it because your opponent’s very talented as well.”