2021 College World Series Game 3: Virginia 6, No. 3 Tennessee 0 (box score)
Andrew Abbott and Matt Wyatt combined on a six-hit shutout, while Logan Michaels went 3 for 4 with a homer, three runs and two RBI, as UVA blanked UT in front of a Father’s Day crowd of 22, 130 at TD Ameritrade Park. Abbott (9-6) worked six innings with five hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts. Wyatt worked the final three frames with one hit, one walk and three punchouts in recording his first save. Michaels hit his first homer of the season in the third to start the scoring. The ball was retrieved and given to his father, who has been battling pancreatic cancer. Michaels had an RBI single and scored in a four-run seventh and scored again in the ninth. Zack Gelof was 3 for 4 with a double, one run and one RBI for the Cavaliers (36-25). Pete Derkay had two hits for the Volunteers (50-17).
UVA Coach Brian O’Connor: “Well, just overall a great performance by our guys, for sure. Andrew Abbott was terrific. He made some big, key, clutch pitches with runners in scoring position multiple innings. And that’s what your Friday night guy, your leader, your All-American needs to do to win here at Omaha. And he certainly delivered. And it just felt after six innings, the jams that he pitched out of that he, it was time for him to come out of the game. And fortunately we were able to stretch the lead there and bring in Matt Wyatt. And I thought Matt did a terrific job. Matt’s been throwing some really great baseball for us and can be overpowering at times. And it was just, from an offensive standpoint, it was a total collective team effort. Capitalized on some opportunities in the big inning, in the seventh inning with some stolen bases and some big clutch hits. And how about the day that Logan Michaels had? I’m so proud of him. To get his first home run of the year in Omaha and to get a couple of other knocks. That guy has been a rock for us in our uniform. He’s a tremendous leader. Zack Gelof was outstanding today as well, as was many other guys. Proud we started off 1-0. I can’t say so many great things about how we played in every facet of the game. We were prepared. They handled the moment very, very well. And I knew they would because of the situation that they’ve been in the last few weeks.”
Andrew Abbott: “Tennessee really has a special lineup, special coach. They’ve had a special year, frankly. They’re really good. They finished top five in the nation, top in the SEC. And they had a really good team coming in, so me and Drew sat down and developed a plan for them. It came to fruition during the game. It was mainly just execution of pitches and just try and limit the damage. I got in a little more jams than I would like in that game, to make it interesting. But just having the team defense behind me and the hitters stepping up at the plate just made the difference for us.”
Logan Michaels: [on third-inning home run] “When I hit that, I instantly, when it went over the fence I started thinking about my dad and it’s one of the most special moments we could share together. And I mean I was sitting in the dugout after it happened. I got pretty emotional. For him to be here for what he went through in the past, just for him to be here and be able to see that, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Just a really special moment.”
UT Coach Tony Vitello: “I thought there were moments whether at the plate or on the mound where we lacked conviction and it cost us. We lost our edge a little bit, which has been so beneficial to us.”