BASEBALL: No. 2 FSU earns sweep

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: April 6, 2008

In Tallahassee, Fla., Florida State could not beat Virginia in nine innings Sunday.
The Seminoles did, however, outlast the Cavaliers in baseball’s version of overtime —twice.
Florida State scored lone runs in the 10th inning in a pair of contests to register back-to-back 3-2 wins during a doubleheader at Dick Howser Stadium.
Both one-run wins started in the same fashion: with a Virginia reliever hitting a Seminole batter.
The miscues ultimately cost the 14th-ranked Cavaliers (24-9, 8-7 ACC) and spoiled stellar starts from senior Pat McAnaney and junior Andrew Carraway.
Florida State, ranked No. 2, improved to 27-3 overall and 14-1 in the league as it matched Virginia’s starting work on the mound.
“It was a day in which we got some exceptional pitching,” FSU coach Mike Martin told reporters. “Geoff Parker had a tremendous outing and then Ryan Strauss comes in [game one] and was throwing harder than I have ever seen him throw since he’s been at Florida State.
“Elih Villanueva had a great outing [in game two] and Jimmy Marshall came in and provided a great relief performance. That’s what you got to have to be successful, is solid pitching.”
Virginia struggled at the plate throughout the twin bill, registering just 15 hits and stranding 17 runners on base.
The Cavaliers were in contention, however, to win both contests.
In the opener, McAnaney allowed a pair of first-inning runs before settling into a groove. The southpaw, who fanned nine batters in 6.2 innings, retired 18 of 19 batters during one stretch.
After coming into the game for McAnaney in the seventh, Virginia sophomore Matt Packer (5-1) ultimately took the loss in the 10th inning.
After hitting Luke Smierciak with a pitch to open the frame, Packer failed to field a would-be sacrifice bunt cleanly and gave up a bouncing, one-out infield hit to Buster Posey to load the bases.
Florida State’s Jack Rye promptly ended the game, sending a 1-1 pitch from Packer up the middle for a single.
In the nightcap, Carraway dazzled, striking out 10 and allowing just six hits. He gave up two earned runs over six innings.
Carraway left with the Cavaliers trailing, 2-1, but was taken off the hook by a pinch-hit RBI single from Tyler Biddix in the eighth.
After sophomore left-hander Neal Davis retired seven batters, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor turned to closer Michael Schwimer with his team in a ninth-inning jam.
Schwimer’s first pitch of the weekend provided a double play that ended the ninth, but he plunked Smierciak to open what would have been the game’s final inning regardless due to a travel curfew.
After a sacrifice bunt, Schwimer tried to intentionally walk FSU’s Stephen Cardullo on a 3-0 pitch, but his offering sailed over the head of catcher Ryan Smith, placing runners on the corners.
After Cardullo stole second, Schwimer induced a ground ball to shortstop Greg Miclat on a 1-2 pitch, but the throw to the plate was high and left Smith with no opportunity to tag Smierciak in time.
The Seminoles’ sweep gives Virginia a four-game losing streak and dropped the team into sole possession of fourth in the ACC’s Coastal Division and five games behind division-leading Miami (26-2, 12-1).
“Virginia has got a good club and they are going to be right in the middle of this [ACC race] before it’s over,” Martin said. “Virginia’s pitching was very good this weekend. Carraway surprised us being a third starter; we had no idea that he would be that effective. He just dominated us.”
Virginia returns home for two games this weekend — the Cavaliers host Longwood (18-12) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Liberty (13-15) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.