June 9, 2013

CBI Live: Game 1, MSU 11, UVa 6

Bulldogs, Cavaliers Halted by Rain

By Sean Ryan

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Rain came early. And rain came late.

In between, Mississippi State put itself in position to return to the College World Series for the first time since 2007.

Chad Girodo struck out 10 over 4.2 relief innings, and Adam Frazier had two hits and two RBI Sunday night as the Bulldogs built a 5-3 lead on Virginia before heavy rain halted play in the bottom of the seventh inning. When play resumes Monday at 4 p.m., Mississippi State will be looking for six outs, while the Cavaliers will look to extend their season one more game after dropping Saturday’s opener of the Charlottesville Super Regional.

Frazier, who went 6 for 6 with two runs and three RBI in the series opener, had an RBI single up the middle to tie the score at 1 – Virginia center fielder Brandon Downes, who had homered in the top of the inning, fired a strike to nail Demarcus Henderson at the plate and get the Cavaliers out of the inning with no further damage.

After Wes Rea hit a mammoth, two-run homer to left off Scott Silverstein, who entered 10-1 with a 2.86 ERA, in the third, Frazier added another RBI single, and Derrick Armstrong scored from second on a throwing error by Virginia shortstop Nick Howard for a 5-1 lead.

The Cavaliers got two back on Nate Irving’s hard liner to third baseman Alex Detz, who got a glove on the shot but couldn’t keep it from going down the line for a double.

That was about the only hard-hit ball off of Girodo, who replaced Trevor Fitts with one out in the third inning. Girodo, a lefty with a 7-1 record, 1.10 ERA and a team-leading 34 appearances, handcuffed the Cavaliers in general, and tied up Virginia’s lefties in particular – of his 10 strikeouts, seven came against left-handed hitters.