OMAHA – A line drive that turned into a double play was a fitting way to end Virginia’s brief stay in the College World Series.
Casey Saucke’s hard-luck drive officially stopped the Cavaliers’ season on Sunday afternoon, but Florida State was in control of the elimination game long before that. Jaime Ferrer hit two home runs and the Seminoles scored the first seven runs en route to a 7-3 victory.
Virginia’s potent offense never got going. The Cavaliers were the first team eliminated from the eight-team tournament; They were held to five runs in their two losses.
The Cavaliers came here averaging 9.4 runs and hitting .336. But after being limited to five hits on Friday in a 3-2 loss to North Carolina, the Cavaliers had 10 on Sunday (eight singles and two doubles) but left nine runners on base.
“We just have to be more opportunistic,” coach Brian O’Connor said. “We didn’t do it at the right time.”
O’Connor’s Cavaliers have lost their last six CWS games since 2021. Four of them were by one run.
It was a quick end to a successful NCAA postseason for the Cavaliers (46-17), who cruised through the Charlottesville regional with three straight wins before sweeping Kansas State in a super regional to secure their seventh CWS appearance. After another 0-2, the 2015 title remains their only championship.
Jay Woolfolk started Sunday and allowed two runs in 3⅓ innings. His fellow right-hander Joe Savino allowed five runs in 1⅔ innings of relief.
Both teams were looking to bounce back from Friday’s losses. The Cavaliers fell when the Tar Heels got a two-out RBI single from American outfielder Vance Honeycutt in the ninth inning. That same day, Florida State (48-16) led by three in the ninth before Tennessee collected four hits with two outs to win, 12-11.
“This team’s response to playing possibly the best game we’ve played this year pretty much sums up what’s in that dugout,” Seminoles coach Link Jarrett said. “And it’s not easy to go to bed after (Friday’s loss).”
Virginia and Florida State had met three weeks earlier in the ACC tournament, and the Seminoles prevailed 12-7. On Sunday, Florida State gradually pulled away, with a four-run fifth inning being the biggest blow.
Florida State starter Carson Dorsey settled down after allowing hits to three of Virginia’s first six batters. After Harrison Didawick’s one-out double in the second, Dorsey retired the next nine Cavaliers. That gave the Seminoles time to warm up at the plate.
After James Tibbs III walked with the bases loaded in the third, Ferrer hit the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth into the left field stands for a 2-0 Florida State lead.
In Virginia’s half of the decisive fifth, a hit by pitch and a walk put two runners on base with one out. But a fly ball and a lineout ended that threat.
The first two Seminoles blew out in the bottom half before Florida State put together a four-run rally. After a double and a walk, Marco Dinges made it 3-0 with a single. Ferrer followed with a high drive that just cleared the left field fence for a three-run homer and a 6-0 lead.
“Hitting is very contagious,” Ferrer said. “We see the guys in front of you who are putting in good at-bats and having success. It means that the game plan with which we are going to come to the plate is working.”
“They were very, very opportunistic,” O’Connor said.
The Seminoles’ lead grew to 7-0 before Virginia began to decline. The Cavaliers had four singles in the seventh, including RBI hits by Henry Godbout and Saucke, to make the score 7-2. Anthony Stephan added a double in the eighth that made it a four-run game.
The Cavaliers had one runner on base in the ninth inning when Saucke lined a liner to Florida State shortstop Alex Lodise, who threw to first for a double play that ended the game and the season.
“We had our opportunities to capitalize,” O’Connor said. “…Sometimes the game can be hard and cruel on you, like it was this weekend. But that doesn’t take anything away from the season Virginia baseball had and who we will be moving forward.”
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