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Virginia Travels South for Showdown with No. 7 Florida State

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  Following a four-game homestand, the Virginia baseball team (20-15, 9-9 ACC) hits the road for a three-game series at No. 7 Florida State (29-7, 11-4 ACC) starting on Thursday (April 17). First pitch for the series opener is slated for 7 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. start time on Friday (April 18) and 2 p.m. start on Saturday (April 19).

 

HOW TO FOLLOW

Watch: ACC Network (Thursday) | ESPN2 (Friday) | ACCNX (Saturday)

Listen: WINA (98.9/1070 AM/WINA)

Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

 

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Thursday – 7 p.m.

Virginia: LHP Bradley Hodges (1-1, 1.17 ERA, 15.1 IP, 7 BB, 24 SO)

Florida State: LHP John Abraham (2-0, 4.05 ERA, 20 IP, 14 BB, 29 SO)

Friday – 7 p.m.

Virginia: RHP Jay Woolfolk (2-2, 4.34 ERA, 45.2 IP, 16 BB, 55 SO)

Florida State: LHP Jamie Arnold (4-1, 2.40 ERA, 41.1 IP, 15 BB, 57 SO)

Saturday – 2 p.m.

Virginia: LHP Tomas Valincius (3-1, 5.24 ERA, 44.2 IP, 10 BB, 52 SO)

Florida State: LHP Joey Volini (8-1, 2.39 ERA, 52.2 IP, 15 BB, 71 SO)

 

LEADING OFF

  • The Cavaliers are coming off a series win over Pitt in which the Cavaliers outscored the Panthers 32-12 in the three-game set.
  • March 29’s win over Stanford was coach Brian O’Connor’s 900th career victory. With the win, O’Connor became the 15th active head coach in Division I with 900 career wins.
  • Entering the weekend, 12 of UVA’s 20 wins on the season are of the comeback variety including the game one victory to open the series vs Pitt.
  • Virginia is 4-4 in true road games so far this season.
  • UVA is 10-4 on the season when junior Aidan Teel is batting leadoff for the Cavaliers.
  • Since the start of the Stanford series on March 27, the Cavaliers are 8-4 overall and are averaging 9.1 runs per game over the 12-game stretch.
  • A total of 10 former Hoos found themselves on MLB Opening Day rosters, which ranks second in the country only behind Vanderbilt (11).

 

AGAINST THE SEMINOLES

  • Florida State has a 62-34 advantage in the all-time series that was first played in 1972.
  • The weekend series marks the first time that the two squads have faced each other in Tallahassee since 2021. Florida State took two of three from Virginia in that series.
  • During the 2024 season, Florida State took both meetings during the postseason. The Seminoles eliminated the Cavaliers in the ACC Baseball Championship in a 12-7 contest before concluding UVA’s season in Omaha with a 7-3 game.
  • The last time the two ACC foes met during the regular season was in 2023 when Virginia swept Florida State in a three-game set at Disharoon Park.

 

RANKING THE HOOS

  • Entering the weekend, UVA’s arms ranked 31st nationally and seventh in the ACC with an average of 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Virginia has also turned 30 double plays on the year, which ranks third in the ACC. As a team, UVA is batting .301, good enough for 52nd nationally and sixth in the league.

 

ON THE MOUND

  • Junior Bradley Hodges is slated to make the first weekend start of his career on Thursday.
  • Last time out, Hodges set career-highs in innings pitched (5 IP) and strikeouts (7 Ks) in a 13-0 win over the VCU Rams on April 8.
  • Jay Woolfolk will get the ball on Friday for UVA. The righthander leads all Cavalier pitchers with 50 strikeouts on the season. His 55 Ks ranks him 77th in the country and 12th in the ACC. Woolfolk is averaging 10.84 strikeouts per nine innings to place 12 in the league.
  • To close out the weekend, Virginia will turn to Tomas Valincius. The freshman has struck out six or more in five of his nine starts this season. Entering the weekend, Valincius owns a Strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.20 to rank third in the league and 37th nationally. His K-to-BB ratio is the third-best among freshmen nationally and is the best mark in the Power 4. His 52 strikeouts are the sixth-most by any freshman in the country.

 

PLAYER NOTABLES

  • Henry Ford ranks 19th in ACC with a batting average of .359 and eighth with 52 total base knocks. The sophomore also is averaging 1.49 hits per game to rank eighth in the league and 87th nationally.
  • Aidan Teel’s 14 doubles ranks the junior with the sixth-most two-baggers in the league and 37th nationally. Teel has also been hit by a team-high 11 times over the opening 34 games of the season, which ranks the junior eighth in the ACC.
  • Elsewhere in the lineup, Henry Godbout and James Nunnallee are proving to be two of the hardest outs in the conference. Godbout has a strikeout rate of 11.2 to rank third in the ACC while Nunnallee enters the weekend with a K rate of 10.9 to place him fourth in the league.
  • Along with the likes of Ford and Teel, Eric Becker ranks among the league’s best when it comes to batting. The sophomore ranks third in the league with 16 doubles, fifth with 58 hits and 11th with a .371 batting average.

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