After a heartbreaking loss to Vanderbilt in the 2014 College World Series Championship game, Virginia entered the 2015 season with its sights set on making the 1,186-mile trip back to Omaha. But a host of injuries and tough losses had the Cavaliers on the verge of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since head coach Brian O’Connor took the helm in 2004. A late-season run gave Virginia renewed hope as it relied on the strength of the program’s culture to make one of the sport’s most remarkable turnarounds en route to a CWS Championship finals rematch with Vanderbilt and the ACC’s first College World Series title since 1955.
