Pavin Smith homered and drove in three runs and Brandon Waddell turned in a strong College World Series pitching performance, leading Virginia over Vanderbilt 4-2 for the school’s first baseball national championship.
The Cavaliers (44-24) prevailed in the CWS finals rematch against the defending champion Commodores and brought the Atlantic Coast Conference its first title in baseball since Wake Forest in 1955.
Waddell (5-5) went seven innings and allowed only two hits after Vanderbilt (51-21) scored twice in the first. He retired the last 11 batters he faced. It was Waddell’s fifth career CWS start, and Virginia won each of them.
Nathan Kirby pitched the last two innings and struck out five for his first save. John Kilichowski (3-4) took the loss.
