Midnight finally arrived for the Texas Longhorns in Omaha. The last of three Big 12 teams still alive in the College World Series defeated Vanderbilt on Friday night to force a second play-in game, but the Commodores scored the winning run in the bottom of the tenth Saturday night to earn a spot in the Championship series against Virginia beginning Monday. It’ll be the first trip to the CWS finals for either team.
Texas finished the year at 46-21, a feat even more impressive after the Longhorns finished last in the Big 12 in 2013. Coach Augie Garrido called this year’s squad his best since the 2005 team that won the National Championship.
After Vanderbilt’s Rhett Wiseman made a highlight catch in right center in the top half of the tenth, the Commodores loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and a hit batsman. Tyler Campbell then beat out an infield single to drive in the game-winning run. Campbell was playing because of a suspension to regular third baseman Xavier Turner, who was declared ineligible on Friday by the NCAA.
