CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Kendall Graveman proved he doesn’t need his best stuff to win a NCAA Super Regional game on the road.
Mississippi State University’s senior right hander needed to pitch backward from his normal approach Saturday in an 11-6 victory against the No. 6 national seed University of Virginia in game one of the NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional at Davenport Field.
Graveman had just delivered his second pitch when he watched Mike Papi smack a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Three outs and four hits later, Graveman and the Bulldogs left the field trailing 3-2.
“It was about competing without my best stuff and getting our team to that fifth or sixth inning with a lead,” Graveman said.
Graveman (7-5), who arguably has been MSU’s most consistent pitcher this season, battled his way through 5 1/3 innings in an 118-pitch outing. Without being able to locate and to command his fastball, Graveman went to his rarely used slider and curveball for results against the best offensive club in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“When I got two strikes on them, it was really hard to put them away,” Graveman said. “If you know me, going to my secondary stuff isn’t what I’m about. Today just happened to be the one time I was locating it well.”
Graveman allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits. He walked two, but didn’t allow Saturday to be another throw-away outing for a MSU starting pitcher.
Graveman has thrown 299 2/3 innings in his four-year career at MSU, which is eighth in school history behind notable Major League Baseball pitchers such as Jeff Brantley and Paul Maholm. Saturday was Graveman’s second postseason victory. He earned the win against the University of Central Arkansas on May 31 in the NCAA Starkville Regional opener.
“If we make one double play ball in the middle of the game, Kendall Graveman’s life is so much easier,” Cohen said. “He competed his heart out today against arguably one of the better offensive teams in the country.”
Virginia to start Silverstein tonight; MSU declines to name starting pitcher
University of Virginia coach Brian O’Connor didn’t hide who would get the baseball tonight for his club in game two of the NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional.
“We need Scott (Silverstein) to give us a quality start,” O’Connor said without prompting after an 11-6 loss Saturday. “That’s something we didn’t get from Brandon (Waddell).”
O’Connor said his club used five freshman pitchers Saturday to give his veteran bullpen arms a chance to be fresh for an elimination game tonight. First pitch will be at 6 tonight (ESPNU).
“I’m not concerned about players being available because anybody we didn’t use today can also go in a Monday scenario as well,” O’Connor said.
Silverstein (10-1, 2.86 ERA), a senior left-hander, earned the victory in a 2-0 win against Elon University on June 1 in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional. He scattered six hits, walked two, and struck out in six innings. He has allowed 86 hits in 88 innings. He has walked 25 and struck out 69.
For MSU, it’s always about the bullpen arms that are available. After the Bulldogs (47-18) used only two pitchers Saturday, the road is clear for the coaching staff to use any type of matchup.
“It all starts with the bullpen in our discussions, and having a fresh Jonathan Holder helps us a lot,” MSU coach John Cohen said.
The only pitcher who warmed up for a short time and wasn’t used Saturday was senior left-hander Chad Girodo. After struggling with command issues, Ross Mitchell completed the final 3 2/3 innings in shutout fashion. Girodo began soft tossing in the sixth and appeared ready to come in the game, but Mitchell found his command in the eighth and ninth.
“We had to have Girodo have that extra day of rest because of the amount of work he had Monday to get us here,” Cohen said. “That was huge. With the amount of left-handed hitters Virginia has, the ability to save him one more day will serve to be really important.”
Cohen declined to name a starting pitcher for tonight’s game. Senior left-hander Luis Pollorena (6-3, 4.32), sophomore left-hander Jacob Lindgren (4-3, 4.18), and junior right-hander Ben Bracewell (1-1, 1.48) are candidates.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.