Wahoowa! Teel’s Grand Slam Home Run Propels Hoos to College World Series

June 14, 2021
A jubilant Kyle Teel rounds third base while giving his couch a highfive

A jubilant Kyle Teel rounds third base after hitting the go-ahead grand slam home run against Dallas Baptist University on Monday. (Photo by James Motter, UVA Athletics)

Just put them in pressure situations and great things seem to happen.

For the sixth time this postseason, the University of Virginia’s baseball team found itself in an NCAA Tournament elimination game, in which a loss would spell the end of the Cavaliers’ season. And for the sixth time, they came out on top.

Playing in a do-or-die game Super Regional game on Monday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina, UVA – thanks to a go-ahead grand slam by Kyle Teel in the seventh inning and stellar relief pitching from Matt Wyatt – defeated Dallas Baptist University, 5-2, to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2015. That was the year the Cavaliers won their only baseball national championship.

The College World Series will begin Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska, with the first round of double-elimination play. UVA will play the University of Tennessee in the first round.  

The game started slowly. With the exception of a young fan catching a Dallas Baptist University two-run home run in the bleachers – as he filmed the entire thing on his phone – the first few innings were somewhat uneventful.

The Hoos still trailed 2-0 in the fourth inning when Nic Kent pulled a fastball over the left-field fence to cut the lead in half.

With two outs that inning, Dallas Baptist starting pitcher Luke Eldred was forced to leave the game with an injury.

In the fifth, UVA outfielder Chris Newell reached on an infield single, stole second and moved to third on a fly out, but was left stranded.

When a pair of defensive gems by Dallas Baptist infielders robbing the Cavaliers of two likely hits in the sixth inning, it seemed like getting back to Omaha might not be in the cards.

However, Newell responded with some theft of his own in the top of the seventh inning, leaping high above the centerfield wall to rob Andres Sosa – who had paused at the plate to admire his blast – of a home run.

That set the stage for Teel’s heroics. With two out in the bottom of the inning, he came to the plate with the bases loaded and – as his oversized helmet bounced on his head from the force of his swing – blasted a 2-2 pitch just over the centerfield fence.

The smile on Teel’s face was huge as he rounded the bases and was greeted at home plate by a jubilant throng of teammates.

From there, Wyatt took over. Having entered the game in the fourth inning, he pitched the final 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits, no runs and striking out eight. He retired the final out on a routine fly ball as chants of “U-V-A!” reverberated throughout the stadium.

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Whitelaw Reid

University of Virginia Licensing & Ventures Group

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June 14, 2021

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