Harrison Didawick of Chesapeake hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth and later scored to give Virginia a 5-4 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night in the Charlottesville Regional. Virginia (43-15), the No. 12 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, will play the St.
John’s-Mississippi State winner in the regional finals. The Cavaliers will have two chances to defeat the Red Storm or Bulldogs, starting at 6 p.m.
Sunday. St. John’s and MSU will play an elimination game at noon Sunday.
Bobby Whalen, who was 0 for 6 in the regional, hit a ground ball up the middle that bounced off second baseman Amani Larry’s chest. Didawick, a Western Branch High graduate who had advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, scored the game winner standing up. Eric Becker hit a two-run triple in the second and a tying two-run single in the seventh for the Cavaliers.
Mississippi State (39-22) took a 3-2 lead in the third with Hunter Hines’ three-run home run. In the fourth, Bryce Chance hit a single, stole third and scored on a throwing error to make it 4-2. UVA starter Evan Blanco went six innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and struck out seven.
Jurrangelo Cijntje pitched seven innings for the Bulldogs, allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Cijntje is a rare ambidextrous pitcher, but he stuck as a right-hander through his outing. St.
John’s 10, Penn 9 (12 innings): Anthony Brienza’s two-strike, two-out single in the bottom of the 12th inning .
