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April 1, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team hosted the Florida State Seminoles in the first contest of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series scheduled for the weekend. Florida State entered the contest with a lofty 29-4 record overall, 7-2 in the ACC, while Virginia looked to even out its 14-15-1 (2-4 ACC) mark with a win. The Seminoles entered their contest with the Cavaliers ranked #1 in the country by Baseball America and in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll. After UVa jumped out to an early 4-1 lead through four innings of play, FSU fought back en route to a 9-6 victory in front of a season-high 453 spectators at the UVa Baseball Field.
Florida State didn’t waste any time scoring the games first run, as the Seminoles took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when FSU’s Marshall McDougal (1-5, RBI, run) crushed a solo homerun over the left field fence to give Florida State a 1-0 advantage.
But the Cavaliers roared right back and scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-1 lead. Michael Floyd (2-2, run) got the inning started off right for the Cavs with a single to center field before advancing to second base on a fielder’s choice. Two batters later, Robbie Marvin (1-4, RBI, run) walked before Jon Benick (1-5, two RBI, run) hit a RBI-double to right-center field to score Floyd and Marvin. UVa’s Luis Giraldo (2-4) then hit a RBI-double in the Cavaliers’ next at-bat to score Benick, making it a 3-1 Orange and Blue lead.
Virginia extended its lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ben Himes (1-4, run) singled to lead off the inning, and later scored on a wild pitch by FSU pitcher Jon McDonald.
But Florida State answered Virginia’s four unanswered runs by scoring six unanswered runs of its own, as the Seminoles added three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Chris Smith (2-5, two runs) got the fifth inning rolling along for FSU after hitting a double down the right field line. Two batters later, Pichi Balet (3-3, four RBI, two runs) hit a RBI-single to left field to score Smith, making it a 4-2 contest. After Blair McCaleb walked, Brett Groves (2-5, three RBI) hit a single to center field to score Smith to pull FSU within one run of UVa at 4-3. Groves then stole second base before scoring himself after John Ford Griffin (1-5) hit a RBI single to tie the game at 4-4 through five innings of play.
Florida State turned the 4-4 ballgame into a 7-4 FSU lead when Balet smacked a three-run homerun to deep, left field to score teammates Smith and Michael Futrell in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Seminoles added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning to take hold of a 9-4 lead.
But the Cavaliers wouldn’t quit, and mounted a late run in the bottom of the ninth inning. After Mark Rueffert and Andrew Riesenfeld walked to begin the inning for Virginia, Floyd hit a bunt-single to load the base for UVa with zero outs. David Stone (RBI) walked in Virginia’s next at-bat to make it a 9-5 game before Marvin grounded out to first base to score Rueffert, making it a 9-6 contest. But the Seminoles defense buckled-down and did not allow another Cavalier run after Benick and Giraldo were retired at the plate to close out the side of the inning, and the game.
FSU’s McDonald improved to 8-1 on the season as a pitcher, while UVa’s Brandon Creswell fell to 1-6 with the loss. McDonald pitched 6.0 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and had two strikeouts. Creswell threw 6.2 innings and allowed seven runs (four earned) on nine hits and tallied four strikeouts.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 14-16-1 overall, 2-5 in the ACC. The win improves Florida State to 30-4 overall, 8-2 in the conference.
UVa and FSU will meet again on Sunday, April 2nd in a double-header that is scheduled to begin at 12:00 noon at the UVa Baseball Field.