OMAHA, Neb. — Virginia’s lineup is stacked with five left-handed hitters. Three are batting over .300 this postseason. The other two were recently taken in the first seven rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft.
When the Cavaliers (49-14) take on Ole Miss (46-14) at 8 p.m. tonight to begin the College World Series, they’ll be facing the Rebels’ right-handed ace, Chris Ellis.
With 44 career appearances to his name — many coming against the best the storied SEC has to offer — Ellis has learned that a careful approach on the mound isn’t always a bad thing.
How will he attack the vaunted Wahoo offense?
With “a lot of change-ups, away,” Ellis said with a laugh Friday afternoon following an open practice at TD Ameritrade Park.
With his next win, Ellis (10-2, 2.45 ERA) would set the Ole Miss school record for victories in a season.
The junior missed his first opportunity to make history last week when he lasted all of 2 1/3 innings in a 9-5 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in Game 1 of a Super Regional series.
Ellis gave up four runs on one hit. He walked three, hit another and had a wild pitch.
“That’s one of those that you definitely want to wash and let go,” said Ellis, a third round pick of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. “That was pretty bad. I worked on it a little bit in the bullpen. I feel like my mechanics are synced back up and I was throwing strikes.
“It’ll be a lot different this time around.”
That’s the hope for UVa’s ace, too.
Nathan Kirby (9-2, 1.73) had his worst outing of the season last week, taking the loss after giving up five runs on seven hits to Maryland.
How will the All-American lefty respond?
“I don’t know,” said Virginia pitching coach Karl Kuhn. “He’s been our guy. Something we talk about with our pitchers all the time is the only thing that matters is what happens next. So whether it’s a home run, a bad pitch, a run scores, a bad outing, the only thing that matters is what happens next for them.
“It’s a grand stage. When you think about the stage, you’re going to forget about the message that you’re trying to deliver to the people if you think about what stage you’re on.
“We try to be focused. He hasn’t been here before, but he’s thrown a no-hitter, so that’s three hours of pressure. He’s been there and he’s been our guy. Hopefully, we’ll get a quality start out of him.”
That no-hitter came April 4 against Pittsburgh, a team that didn’t qualify for the ACC Tournament.
Tonight, he gets a Rebels bunch with 46 wins and an SEC-best .303 batting average to its name.
“They’re a potent lineup,” Kuhn said. “They’ve got great numbers.”
First baseman Sikes Orvis has a team-best 14 home runs. Catcher Will Allen, a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, is batting .345 with seven home runs and 61 RBI. Center fielder Austin Bousfield, a third-team All-American and fifth round pick of the San Diego Padres, is batting .349 with a team-best 58 runs scored.
“From soup to nuts,” Kuhn said, “they’re a great program, a great organization.”
Major talent
The only team to have more MLB Draft picks than Virginia was Ole Miss.
Nine Rebels were taken last week. They were Ellis, Bousfield, third baseman Austin Anderson (ninth round, Baltimore Orioles), pitcher Josh Laxer (ninth round, Detroit Tigers), left fielder Braxton Lee (12th round, Tampa Bay Rays), Allen (13th round, Detroit Tigers), pitcher Hawtin Buchanan (20th round, Seattle Mariners), pitcher Aaron Greenwood (28th round, Houston Astros) and pitcher Christian Trent (29th round, Los Angeles Dodgers).
That’s 17 draft picks between UVa and Ole Miss.
Full circle
Ole Miss is in its first College World Series since 1972. Who did the Rebels have to beat to get here 40 years ago? Virginia. Ole Miss topped the Cavs, 9-0, in the NCAA District III Playoffs in Gastonia, N.C.
“The road to Omaha isn’t a straight one,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said Friday. “It’s very windy and bumpy and nobody knows that more than we do.
“This is our fifth Super Regional and we finally punched our ticket here.”