No. 10 Virginia Downs No. 7 Florida State in Series Opener

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In a contest that was dominated by pitching, the No. 10 Virginia baseball team (24-7, 8-5 ACC) topped No. 7 Florida State (22-7, 7-3 ACC) 4-3 at Disharoon Park on Thursday evening (April 2).

 

Virginia plated all four of its runs, highlighted by an Antoino Perrotta two-run home run, in the fourth inning before riding four shutout frames from the bullpen to victory in the series opener.

 

UVA starter Kyle Johnson electrified the Disharoon Park faithful on Thursday with four scoreless innings and a season-high seven strikeouts, but was dealt a no-decision. In relief, Henry Zatkowski picked up his fifth win of the season by allowing three unearned runs in three innings of work.

 

Jake Weatherspoon led the Cavalier offense on the night with a 3-for-4 game, while Perotta and Joe Tiroly each went 2-for-4 with an extra base hit.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Johnson set the tone early on Thursday night as the talented lefty allowed the first two Seminole batters to reach before striking out side in the top of the first.
• After the Virginia fielding error that allowed the second Florida State batter to reach in the top of the first, Johnson sat down the next nine batters he faced.
• Tiroly got the Virginia bats going in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out single before coming home to score on a Sam Harris double to left center for the first run of the game.
• A handful of pitches later, Weatherspoon brought home Harris on an RBI single to left center that was immediately followed by Perrotta’s two-run blast that landed just beyond the UVA bullpen in right field. The long ball made it a 4-0 lead for the homestanding Cavaliers and was Perrotta’s second homer of the season.
• Florida State scratched across all three of its runs in top of the fifth after a Virginia error extended the frame.
• After allowing the trio of unearned runs, Zatkowski settled in and retired the final seven FSU batters that he faced on the night.
• Out of the bullpen, Lucas Hartman sat down the three Florida State batters he faced in order during the eighth inning for his 12th scoreless appearance this season.
• Tyler Kapa collected his seventh save of the year with a shutdown ninth inning to seal the 4-3 Virginia victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• In total, the UVA pitching trio of Henry Zatkowski, Lucas Hartman and Tyler Kapa retired the final 13 Florida State batters of the night in order.
• Virginia improves to 18-1 when scoring first with the win.
• Noah Murray extended his reached base streak to 19 games with his walk in the third inning.

FROM HEAD COACH CHRIS POLLARD

“Credit to Mendes and credit to Florida State because they came in with a plan that was very different from what he had done all year. Against left-handers, he basically had been a two-pitch pitcher all year. 60% fastball and 40% slider and that was our game plan to go up there and take away the fastball and for three innings, we saw changeup, we saw more cutters than he had thrown left on left. We were finally able to get some fastballs there in the fourth and we didn’t miss them.”

UP NEXT

The series continues on Friday (April 3) with the middle game of the three-game series. The Cavaliers will have Lefthander Max Stammel (2-2) on the mound and he will be opposed by FSU lefthander Trey Beard (2-0). First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).