FSU drops doubleheader, series to UVA

Game 2: UVA 2, FSU 0

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - No. 6 Florida State (31-8, 13-7 ACC) managed just one hit in game two of the doubleheader Saturday evening as No. 8 Virginia (34-6, 15-5 ACC) shut out the Seminoles 2-0 in front of a capacity crowd of 4,980 on Davenport Field inside UVA Baseball Stadium.

"You just have to tip your hat to the University of Virginia," said head coach Mike Martin. "They did a great job. You get one hit; you just have to tip your hat. It's tough to win on the road in the ACC; there is no doubt about it."

Virginia's Scott Silverstein (7-0) stymied the Seminole offense in game two of the doubleheader allowing only four base runners all game long. The senior southpaw went 7.0 innings allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out six. Kyle Crockett worked the final two innings retiring all six batters that he faced to earn his eighth save of the season.

"They threw the ball to location as well as anybody I've seen all year long against us," added Martin. "They went through us tonight."

The lone Seminole hit of the game came off the bat of Seth Miller in the third inning as the senior centerfielder ripped a double to right center. John Nogowski drew two walks off Silverstein in three plate appearances, while DJ Stewart registered the only other walk of the game drawing a base-on-ball in the sixth.

Brandon Leibrandt (5-4) was brilliant in defeat as the sophomore southpaw pitched the first complete game of his career and the first since Sean Gilmartin went the distance in a 2-1 defeat at Virginia Tech back on April 15, 2011.

Leibrandt went 8.0 strong innings scattering four hits and three walks while allowing two unearned runs. The Alpharetta, Ga., native finished with seven strikeouts.

"Brandon was beautiful," said Martin. "He had a great, great outing. It turns into one pitch and the (UVa) guy did a good job of hitting it where we weren't and you have to credit him."

Neither team was able to produce much offensively through the first four innings as both starting pitchers yielded just three combined hits. Derek Fisher had the first hit of the game with a single through the left side in the second, while the second Cavalier hit was an infield single in the fourth by Joe McCarthy.

UVa took advantage of a costly throwing error by the Seminoles in the bottom of the fifth inning to break the scoreless tie, generating the only run production in the second game of the doubleheader.

After Leibrandt registered the first two outs on a fly out and a strikeout, Reed Gragnani drew his second walk of the game and moved to second on a throwing error at second on a groundball off the bat of Nate Irving. Branden Cogswell stepped in and plated the only two runs of the game with a double down the line in right to give UVa a 2-0 advantage.

The Cavaliers would manage just one base hit after Cogswell's double that coming off the bat of Kenny Towns, who led off the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle. Leibrandt retired 10 of the last 11 batters that he faced.

Silverstein and Crockett duplicated the matter as the Cavalier duo retired the last 11 Seminole batters to complete the one-hit shutout. The last time Florida State was held to just one hit in a game was against Miami back on May 1, 1998 down in Coral Gables (a 7-1 loss to the Hurricanes).

"Tomorrow is another day," said Martin. "I am anxious to come out tomorrow and see how we play."

The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday, April 21 with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m.

Game 1: UVA 9, FSU 2

No. 8 Virginia showcased the long ball in game one of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon clubbing three home runs en route to a 9-2 victory over No. 6 Florida State Saturday afternoon on Davenport Field inside UVa Baseball Stadium.

The Cavaliers out hit the Seminoles 10-6 as three of the 10 hits went for extra bases but unfortunately for FSU all three of those extra base hits left the ball park.

Luke Weaver (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed a career-high seven runs on six hits in 4.2 innings, his shortest outing in eight starts this year. The DeLand, Fla., native finished with five strikeouts while walking a season-high three batters.

Six of the nine runs scored by Virginia came off the long ball as all three home runs allowed by Weaver were two-run shots. It marked the first time since June 11, 2010 that a Florida State pitcher gave up three home runs in a game. In that contest, Geoff Parker gave up three in a 9-8 victory over Vanderbilt in NCAA Super Regional play.

UVa starter Brandon Waddell improved to 3-1 on the year as he held the Seminoles to just a run on four hits. The freshman left hander finished with three walks and three strikeouts as the only runner he allowed past second base came in FSU's run scoring third inning.

DJ Stewart paced the Seminole offense in the loss collecting two of FSU's six hits as the freshman left fielder finished 2-for-4 with a double and a single. Both Seminole runs were scored courtesy of a sac-fly with one in the second by Stephen McGee and the other by Marcus Davis in the eighth.

Virginia struck first in game one on a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of Nick Howard in the bottom of the second to give the Cavaliers an early 2-0 lead. Mike Papi drew a walk and scored two batters later when Howard took a 1-1 pitch from Weaver out of the park to left for his first career home run.

The Seminoles put runners at the corners with one out in the top of the third and cut the deficit in half on McGee's sac-fly to center plating Seth Miller, who reached on a fielder's choice groundout to second.

The Cavaliers got the run back in the bottom of the inning to push their lead back to two at 3-1. Back-to-back one-out walks by Weaver would come back to hurt the Seminole right hander as Joe McCarthy laced an RBI single back up the middle scoring Branden Cogswell from second. Weaver escaped the inning without further damage getting a strikeout-throw out double play to retire the side. Brandon Downes went down swinging, while Jared King was thrown out by McGee trying to steal third.

Virginia increased its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth on its second two-run home run of the afternoon. Papi led off the inning with a single to right and scored on Derek Fisher's fifth round tripper of the season. The ball came on a 2-1 pitch from Weaver and got caught up in the wind blowing out to left center to carry it out of the ball park.

Downes gave UVa a 7-1 lead in the fifth on the Cavaliers' third two-run home run of the afternoon. The Cavalier centerfielder went yard off Weaver with two outs for his sixth home run of the season, ending the afternoon for the Seminole starter.

Virginia added to its lead in the sixth taking advantage of a Seminole error to plate a run. Nate Irving reached on a fielding error at second, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out RBI single to right by King off reliever Kyle Bird. The Cavaliers looked to add more after loading the bases with back-to-back walks, but Dylan Silva replaced Bird and got Papi swinging on strikes to retire the side.

Florida State pushed across a run in the eighth to cut the lead to 8-2. Stewart led off the inning with a double to center off Whit Mayberry and moved to third on a single to right by Ladson Montgomery. Stewart scored a batter later on Davis' sac-fly to right.

The Cavaliers brought home its final run of game in the eighth on a sac-fly to center by Papi scoring Cogswell, who led off the inning with walk. UVa loaded the bases with one-out off Silva, but Kenny Burkhead came on and got the final two outs of the inning on a strikeout and groundout.