No. 7 Baseball Welcomes No. 5 Florida State in Pivotal ACC Series

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April 18, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The seventh-ranked Virginia baseball team plays host to fifth-ranked Florida State this weekend in a pivotal ACC series at Davenport Field. The three-game series consists of contests at 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. With four weekends remaining in league play, both teams sport 13-5 conference records heading into the series.

Ticket Information
The Saturday and Sunday games are sold out. As of Thursday afternoon, approximately 900 tickets were left for the Friday encounter. Virginia students still will be admitted with valid ID.

Promotions
Prior to the Friday game, there will be a free student tailgate starting at 5 p.m. outside the left-field fence, featuring free Domino’s pizza and Pepsi products, cornhole games and other activities. Free t-shirt will be handed out to the first 100 students at the tailgate.

Broadcast Information
Video broadcasts will be available for all three games on VirginiaSports.com via a Cavaliers Live subscription. Live statistics (GameTracker) also will be available on VirginiaSports.com.

WINA 1070-AM will have the live radio broadcast of all three games of the series in the Charlottesville area. Select stations across the Virginia Sports Radio Network will air the UVa Baseball “Game of the Week” each Saturday. The following stations will carry UVA baseball this spring:

Charlottesville: WINA 1070-AM
Richmond: WRNL 910-AM
Lynchburg: WZZI 97.9-FM
Mount Jackson: WSVG 790-AM
Martinsville: WHEE 1370-AM
Petersburg: WHAP 1340-AM
Winchester: WXVA 610-AM

Parking Information
Free parking will be available in the University Hall, Cage and McCue parking lots as well as the Emmet/Ivy Garage for all three games. The John Paul Jones Arena lot and garage will be unavailable Friday and Saturday but will be open for baseball patrons Sunday. Friday Parking Map | Saturday Parking Map

Virginia in the Latest National Rankings
Baseball America, Perfect Game – 7
NCBWA, USA Today Coaches – 8
Collegiate Baseball – 9

Virginia Cavaliers (32-6, 13-5 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – Fr. LHP Brandon Waddell (2-1, 3.65 ERA)
Sat. – R-Sr. LHP Scott Silverstein (6-0, 3.42 ERA)
Sun. – So. RHP Nick Howard (4-3, 2.27 ERA)

Florida State Seminoles (31-6, 13-5 ACC)
Probable Starting Rotation
Fri. – So. RHP Luke Weaver (4-0, 1.40 ERA)
Sat. – So. LHP Brandon Leibrandt (5-3, 4.89 ERA)
Sun. – Sr. RHP Scott Sitz (7-0, 1.04 ERA)

Battle of Two of Three Winningest Teams Since 2009
The weekend series touts two of three winningest teams in college baseball since 2009. Virginia has posted 227 wins since the start of the 2009 season – most in Division I baseball – while Florida State has won 220 games, third most in that span.

South Carolina has 226 victories since 2009.

Virginia-Florida State Series
Florida State owns a 48-20 advantage in the all-time series against Virginia, including a 16-8 edge in games played in Charlottesville. Virginia had won three straight series against FSU prior to the Seminoles’ sweep in March 2012 in Tallahassee.

The Cavaliers have won nine of the last 15 meetings, including a 7-0 win last year in the ACC tournament.

Mirror Images?
Virginia and Florida State are similar in a lot of ways. Both teams feature a host of underclassmen in the lineup and pitching staff after losing several key players from the 2012 teams. The statistics reflect it as well: in batting, UVa is third in the league with a .306 average, while FSU is fourth at .290. Both teams get on base at a high rate, with the Seminoles holding a .416 team on-base percentage and the Cavaliers a .414 mark.

Both teams boast strong pitching staffs: Florida State is second in the league with a 2.60 team ERA, while Virginia stands third at 2.76. FSU pitchers limit opposing batters to a .233 average, while the UVa staff has held opposing hitters to a .238 mark.

Both teams have struggled at times on defense. UVa ranks seventh in the conference with a .967 fielding percentage, while FSU is eighth at .966.

Noting the Seminoles
Florida State holds a 31-6 record (13-5 ACC) following a 2-0 victory over South Alabama Tuesday in Tallahassee. The Seminoles swept Duke last weekend at home in ACC play; they are 24-2 at home and 6-4 on the road this season.

Jose Brizuela leads FSU with a .359 batting average, which is 10th in the ACC. DJ Stewart holds a .313 average and a team-best 33 RBI.

Up Next
Virginia has a pair of midweek home games next week, as the Cavaliers will play host to Richmond Tuesday and James Madison Wednesday in 6 p.m. games. Virginia heads to Blacksburg next weekend for a three-game ACC series with Virginia Tech.