#6 Seed Virginia Falls To #1 Seed Florida State In ACC Tournament
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May 24, 2003
SALEM, Va. – The #6 seeded University of Virginia baseball team dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision to the #1 seeded Florida State Seminoles in the quarterfinals round of the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. FSU posted a run in the third inning and another in the sixth inning and held the Cavaliers scoreless to eliminate UVa from the tournament.
Florida State scored the first run of the game and made it a 1-0 contest in the bottom of the third inning when Tony Richie sent a RBI-single through the left side to drive in Stephan Drew, who singled two batters later to reach base. Richie’s hit and Drew’s run would both prove to be the game-winners.
The Seminoles extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning and added an insurance run when Blake Balkcom led off the inning with a double to left field before he scored FSU’s second run of the contest two batters later of a RBI sacrifice fly to left-center field by Chris Hart. That would be all the scoring Florida State needed as it held on for the 2-0 shutout victory.
UVa starting pitcher Andrew Dobies (6-3) took the loss despite having a very solid outing on the mound. Dobies went 6.2 innings and allowed just two runs while scattering six hits to go along with three strikeouts.
FSU starting pitcher Daniel Davidson (9-0) remained perfect on the mound this season and tossed 7.2 scoreless innings. Davidson yielded just three hits while striking out a game-high seven batters to record the victory. Daniel Hodges pitched 1.1 scoreless innings and gave up to hits while striking out one batter to post his 12th save of the year.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 29-25 overall, 1-2 in the ACC Tournament. The victory improves Florida State’s record to 49-9-1 overall, 2-1 in the ACC Tournament.
The Cavaliers will now await a decision as to whether or not they will be selected to compete in a NCAA Regional. Teams who qualify to compete in the NCAA Regionals will be selected on Monday, May 26th. Virginia is looking to make its first NCAA Regional appearance since the 1996 season.
— UVa —