Omaha, NE (My Sportsbook) - Keith Werman finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored as Virginia topped CS-Fullerton, 7-5, in an elimination game in Bracket 1 play of the College World Series on Monday.
Franco Valdes doubled and scored for Virginia, which will face Arkansas in another elimination game on Wednesday after the Razorbacks were manhandled by LSU, 9-1, in the nightcap.
Andrew Carraway hurled 2 2/3 relief innings for Virginia, allowing four hits and no runs behind starter Robert Morey, who went just four frames and was charged with five hits and three runs.
Dustin Garneau hit a two-run homer and both Gary Brown and Jared Clark collected three hits and knocked in one for the Titans, who were eliminated from the tournament despite being the second-ranked team in the nation.
"It is unfortunate for the people who saw us this weekend...we didn't play very well," Cal State Fullerton head coach Dave Serrano said. "We didn't stay very true to ourselves and got out of character. We'll have to go back to the drawing board and see what happened."
Daniel Renken got the start and took the loss for CS-Fullerton after giving up six hits and six runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Phil Gosselin's RBI double in the fifth gave the Cavaliers a 5-3 edge, then Werman and Tyler Cannon added run-scoring hits in the sixth for a four-run bulge.
Brown and Clark's hits in the ninth brought the Titans within 7-5, but Kevin Arico retired Khris Davis to end the contest, giving Virginia its first ever CWS win.
"This is a very big win for our program. No one wants to come here and go two and out. We have a lot of young guys on our team. The energy level is high," Carraway said.
The Tigers of LSU, meanwhile, were never seriously threatened in their meeting with Arkansas.
Mikie Mahtook's three-run homer in the first inning staked Louis Coleman to an early lead, and the LSU starter did the rest, hurling six innings of one-run ball, scattering six hits and three walks while fanning seven.
His counterpart, Brett Eibner, didn't get out of the second frame, surrendering four runs on five hits and a pair of walks for the Razorbacks.
Jacob House had a chance to cut into Arkansas' 4-1 deficit in the third but struck out with the bases loaded to end the frame.
"We were down 4-1 with the bases loaded, and we didn't get the hit," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "We didn't even hit the ball hard. If we get the hit, we're right in there. We have been getting that hit. You just have to give credit to Coleman."
The Tigers padded their lead in the sixth behind a solo shot from Austin Nola and a two-run blast to right from Blake Dean, and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way.
LSU will next play the winner of the Arkansas-Virginia meeting on Friday. A victory in that game would send the Tigers to the championship series.
"These kids are focused, they're balancing focus and energy," LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said of his club. "It's a coaches' dream right now the way these guys are conducting themselves. They're a very confident group right now."
