Eighth-Inning Rally Lifts No. 4 FSU to 7-5 Win over Virginia Baseball

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 4 Florida State scored three runs in the eighth inning to come from behind and defeat the Virginia baseball team, 7-5, Monday evening at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla. In the first ACC Monday broadcast on ESPNU, the Seminoles finished off a three-game series sweep, rallying in the eighth inning for wins in the final two games.

Reed Gragnani (Jr., Richmond, Va.) tied a career high with four hits for Virginia (11-8-1, 2-4 ACC), while Mitchell Shifflett (So., Midlothian, Va.) added a pair of hits.

UVa reliever Kyle Crockett (So., Poquoson, Va.) allowed a pair of runs in 1.1 innings and was credited with the loss. He falls to 0-2 on the year. Virginia starting pitcher Whit Mayberry (Jr., Alexandria, Va.) worked 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs, four hits and two walks while striking out three.

FSU reliever Gage Smith (1-0) pitched one-third of an inning to earn the win. Robert Benincasa pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his seventh save. FSU starting pitcher Peter Miller tossed 2.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned), five hits and two walks while striking out a pair.

Florida State (17-2, 6-0) drew first blood with a pair of first-inning runs. With one out, Devon Travis walked and James Ramsey doubled. Jayce Boyd followed with a two-run single to right.

Virginia cut a run from the lead in the second inning. Jared King (Sr., Radford, Va.) hit a leadoff double off the right-center field wall, and two outs later Shifflett smacked a 3-2 pitch into center field to score King.

UVa batted around and scored four times in the third to take a 5-2 lead. Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) and Gragnani hit back-to-back singles to start the inning and moved up on a Stephen Bruno (Jr., Audubon, N.J.) groundout. Mike Papi (Fr., Tunkhannock, Pa.) reached on a catcher’s interference to load the bases. Miller then walked King to force in a run. Reliever Kyle Bird then walked Derek Fisher (Fr., Rexmont, Pa.) to force in another run. Nate Irving reached on an error, with Papi scoring on the play. One out later, Keith Werman (Sr., Vienna, Va.) singled to center to score Fisher, but Irving was thrown out at the plate on a strong throw by Ramsey.

FSU got a run back in the fourth as Jose Brizuela grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, scoring Boyd. The Seminoles added another run in the fifth on back-to-back one-out doubles by Johnson and Travis, but failed to add on as reliever Artie Lewicki (So., Wyckoff, N.J.) escaped a one-out jam with runners on second and third.

For the second straight day, the Seminoles scored three runs in the eighth inning to rally for the win. Boyd hit a first-pitch single up the middle to start the inning and McGee followed with a walk. Austin Young (So., Mechanicsville, Va.) entered in relief and hit Justin Gonzalez with his first pitch. Brizuela lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Boyd and move McGee to third. Young struck out John Nogowski swinging for the second out. Justin Thompson (Sr., Danville, Va.) took over on the mound, and Seth Miller hit the first pitch in the hole between first and second for a two-run single to cap the rally.

UVa returns home at 5 p.m., Wednesday to play VMI.