/
.
No. 5 Virginia Plays Host to No. 4 Florida State This Weekend
Story Links
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (17-1, 3-0 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – LHP Danny Hultzen (4-0, 0.66 ERA)
Sat. – RHP Tyler Wilson (3-0, 1.82 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Cody Winiarski (2-1, 3.05 ERA)
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (15-2, 3-0 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – LHP Sean Gilmartin (4-0, 1.24 ERA)
Sat. – RHP Scott Sitz (2-0, 2.35 ERA)
Sun. – LHP Brian Busch (1-0, 5.82 ERA)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Winners of 11 straight games, the fifth-ranked Virginia baseball team battles No. 4 Florida State this weekend in a three-game ACC series at Davenport Field. The teams will play at 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Live statistics and audio broadcasts of all three games will be available at VirginiaSports.com. The Friday and Sunday games will be broadcast locally on WINA 1070-AM, while the Saturday radio broadcast will be available online only.
Parking will be limited Sunday because of the NCAA Women’s Basketball First-Round games at John Paul Jones Arena. Baseball patrons may park in the University Hall lots as well as the Emmet-Ivy Garage. Click here for the Sunday parking map.
Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance to avoid long lines at the Davenport Field ticket windows. Tickets may be ordered online at VirginiaSports.com, in person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium or by phone at (800) 542-8821. General Admission seating is available in the left- and right-field bleachers, the first baseline bleachers and on the grass hillside.
There are several promotions planned for the weekend, including Family Day on Sunday, where families can purchase four general admission tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for $36. For a full list of promotional activities this weekend, click here.
The weekend figures to be an exciting one with two of the premier all-around teams in the nation. FSU ranks second in the ACC in batting (.315), while UVa stands fourth (.311). Virginia leads the conference in ERA (1.72), while FSU ranks third (2.48). The Cavaliers rank second in the conference in fielding (.984), while FSU is fourth (.980).
One of the highlights of the weekend will come Friday as two of the nation’s best left-handed pitchers will square off – Virginia All-American Danny Hultzen (Jr., Bethesda, Md.) and FSU All-American Sean Gilmartin. Both hurlers are 4-0 on the young season.
Virginia (17-1, 3-0 ACC) comes off a 7-3 Wednesday win over James Madison to run its win streak to 11 – the second-longest current win streak in the nation (Longwood, 13). John Hicks (Jr., Sandy Hook, Va.) homered twice and drove in four runs in the way as he raised his batting average to .397 this year – sixth best in the ACC. Hicks ranks second in the conference in hits with 29 and seventh in doubles with seven. Steven Proscia (Jr., Suffern, N.Y.) is a career .417 hitter against FSU (10-for-24) and has upped his batting average to .310 this year with a recent surge.
FSU enters the weekend with a 15-2 record, including a 3-0 mark in the ACC after a three-game sweep of Boston College last weekend in Tallahassee. All-American Mike McGee leads the squad with a .400 batting average; he also has homered three times and driven in 19. One of the top two-way players in the nation, McGee ranks second in the ACC with three saves, behind only UVa pitcher Branden Kline, who has eight.
Florida State owns a 44-16 all-time series advantage against Virginia, although the Cavaliers have won five of the last seven meetings. The teams split four games last year, with Virginia picking up its first-ever series win at FSU (winning 2 of 3), and FSU earning an 11-4 win in the ACC tournament.