Virginia celebrates with dog pile after clinching spot in College World Series
The Virginia Cavaliers celebrated in style after punching their ticket to the College World Series on Saturday. They claimed a 10-4 victory against Kansas State to earn the sweep in Super Regionals after also winning the opening game Friday.
Chase Hungate secured the final out on a strikeout as he pitched the final two innings to record the save. After that, the Cavaliers players made a rush for the mound where they celebrated with their pitcher in a dogpile. You can view the moment below.
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The College World Series appearance is the seventh in school history for Virginia and its second straight after making it in 2023. The Cavaliers become the second school to secure its spot in Omaha, joining fellow ACC program Florida State.
The Cavaliers held a 5-4 advantage entering the ninth inning before going on to score five runs to pull away for good. After Jacob Ference‘s triple scored two runs to start, the Cavaliers loaded the bases for Luke Hanson to hit a three-RBI double.
Casey Saucke led Virginia by going 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and a home run in the win. The Cavaliers totaled 13 hits overall as a team had three players record multiple hits.
Virginia got off to a quick start when Saucke hit a solo home run in the first inning. That was one of two runs the Cavaliers scored in the opening frame as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. KSU would add a run of its own in the bottom of the inning as well as another in the second to tie things up heading into the third.
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Things would remain scoreless from their until the fifth inning when Virginia added a couple more runs. Henry Ford hit a two-RBI single down the left side to drive in both runs. The Wildcats once again had an answer in the bottom of the inning as Brendan Jones hit a solo shot to make it a 4-3 Cavaliers lead.
Virginia later added some insurance to its lead in the eighth inning after Henry Godbout narrowly escaped a throw to home plate to score a run. As was the trend for the game, however, KSU responded with a solo homer from Kyan Lodice to cut the lead back to one.
All seven of Virginia’s College World Series appearances have come under coach Brian O’Connor, who was hired two decades ago in 2004. The Cavaliers won the national title in 2015 after also finishing as runner-up in 2014. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament in 18 of his 21 seasons.
Now O’Connor will look to lead the team to its second championship in program history and continue building his already impressive legacy at the school. The College World Series will begin on June 14 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.