Sunshine sinks Cavaliers

By Jay Jenkins

Published: May 31, 2008

FULLERTON, Calif. — A would-be heartwarming classic turned into a horror flick with one simple throw.
With runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, Virginia third baseman Tyler Cannon slung the ball towards first baseman Jeremy Farrell for what appeared to be the inning’s second out. There was only one problem: Farrell never saw the ball due to his uncompromising angle with the sun glaring down in the backdrop.
As the throw sailed past Farrell, UCLA pinch runner Chris Giovinazzo raced home to propel the Bruins to a 3-2 walk-off win in improbable fashion.
“I tell you, in my coaching career, I don’t know if I have ever lost a game like that … where the sun affects a player not being able to see the baseball to catch the ball,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “It was a great ballgame between two great teams.
“It is just unfortunate. I feel for our players that that’s the way the game ends. I don’t know that either Tyler Cannon or Jeremy Farrell could have done anything about it.”
With the loss, Virginia (38-22) falls into the loser’s bracket and must win four straight games to win the regional. The Cavaliers will face the loser of Friday’s late game between top-seeded Cal State Fullerton and Rider tonight at 7 p.m.
UCLA (32-25) will play the Fullerton-Rider winner tonight at 11 p.m.
As odd as the ending was, O’Connor said there was nothing that Farrell could have done differently.
“He didn’t have a chance,” the coach said. “He didn’t see the ball at all.”
Oddly enough in a game that included a costly hidden ball trick, the wild walk-off finish almost unfolded on the prior at-bat in the ninth.
With runners at first and second and no one out, Virginia reliever Matt Packer corralled a bunted ball back to the mound and fired to Cannon at third. Cannon almost threw across the diamond to first base in an attempt to get a double play.
“I waved my hands and [Cannon] asked me after if we had a chance and I said, ‘No way,’” said Virginia second baseman David Adams who was covering first on the bunt. “It is just one of those things. It has never happened to me, never happened to us. I can assure you of that.”
The fact that Virginia was in a position to extend the game into extra innings was a feat in itself. The Cavaliers had trailed almost the entire game as UCLA starting pitcher Tim Murphy masterfully motored into the eighth.
It was in that frame, however, that Virginia managed to tie the contest and chase Murphy from the mound after another unexpected error.
With one out in the frame, Cannon lifted a lazy fly ball into the gap in left-center that hit Mickey Weisser’s glove and dropped to the ground for a two-base error.
Cannon advanced to third on David Adams’ bouncing single that snuck between the shortstop and third.
The sophomore scored one batter later as Farrell pushed a fly ball towards the right-field corner that caught on a head-first diving attempt by UCLA right fielder Brady Dolan.
“It was a big play,” said UCLA coach John Savage. “It saved another run. It was a tremendous.
“Whenever you get into regional play, it is like playoff basketball: it is one play, one foul, it is a walk, it is a flare.”
The Cavaliers also scored a lone run in the sixth inning, a frame that had the making for more.
Cannon laced a double down the left-field line to push shortstop Greg Miclat to third, and both runners advanced on a run-scoring sacrifice fly by Adams.
Moments later, UCLA third baseman Jermaine Curtis met Murphy near the mound and strolled to third. Cannon, thinking the ball was in Murphy’s glove, strolled off the bag far enough to allow Curtis to sneak in with the tag.
“I think Tyler Cannon made a mistake,” O’Connor said. “You should never wander off the base until the pitcher is on the rubber, and to their credit, it worked. You rarely ever see it, but it was a mental lapse on his part. “Obviously, it had an impact on the game — there would have been one out and a runner at third base.”
Savage said it was a play that his team had tried previously this season.
“The hidden-ball trick really was a big play. It is kind of a West coast play and you don’t see it a lot. The timing was good.”
Virginia’s late rally took starting pitcher Jacob Thompson off the hook for a loss in what could be his final outing as a Cavalier.
The program’s all-time wins leader allowed seven hits and two earned runs in six innings and escaped a pair of jams by allowing lone runs in the first and fourth innings.
“I thought Jacob Thompson pitched pretty well,” O’Connor said. “It is unfortunate that we were not able to get him more run support, but Murphy was really good tonight.”
Murphy, who entered having worked 16.2 straight scoreless innings, pitched 7.2 innings, scattering eight hits.
UCLA reliever Brendan Lafferty was credited with the win after working a perfect top-half of the ninth inning before the stunning play.
“If you are around the game of baseball long enough, you will see things that you have never seen before,” O’Connor said. “That’s why it is a great game, but it doesn’t feel very good right now to have that happen to you.
“I am proud of our guys, I thought we battled and we will be back [today] to play.”
O’Connor said he plans to start junior Andrew Carraway on the mound tonight and would take the contests on a game-by-game basis.