The No. 17 Virginia baseball team used a six-run seventh inning as well as seven strong innings from starting pitcher Artie Lewicki (So., Wyckoff, N.J.) to record a 7-0 win over top-ranked Florida State Saturday in the ACC Baseball Championship at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C. The fourth seed in the tournament, Virginia (38-17-1) finished 2-1 in the field, while the top-seeded Seminoles (43-15) went 0-3.
The Cavaliers notched their second shutout of the season; UVa blanked Towson, 8-0, on March 27 in Charlottesville. Virginia was the first team to shut out Florida State this year and snapped the ‘Noles streak of 67 straight games without getting shut out.
Virginia also earned its first win over a top-ranked team since May 30-31, 2009, when the Cavaliers picked up a pair of wins in the NCAA tournament against UC Irvine.
Lewicki (4-2) did not allow a run over seven innings as he earned the win. He gave up three hits and two walks and struck out four. FSU starter Mike Compton (10-2) tossed five innings and allowed one earned run, six hits and two walks while striking out a pair in taking the loss.
Virginia racked up 12 hits, including a 3-for-3 day from Colin Harrington (R-So., Johnstown, Pa.), who finished the tournament 6-for-10. Derek Fisher (Fr., Rexmont, Pa.) was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI as he finished 5-for-9 in the tournament. Stephen Bruno (R-So., Audubon, N.J.) and Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) each recorded two hits.
Virginia scored the game’s first run in the fourth inning. Fisher singled to right to lead off and went first to third on a hit-and-run single by Jared King (R-Jr., Radford, Va.). Harrington followed with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Cavaliers scored six runs in the seventh to blow the game open. Nate Irving (Fr., Yonkers, N.Y.) drew a leadoff walk and Keith Werman (Sr., Vienna, Va.) laid down a sacrifice bunt, which first baseman Jayce Boyd errantly threw to second, allowing Irving to advance a base. Taylor walked to load the bases, and one out later Bruno singled sharply to right to score the first run.
Fisher singled in two runs on the first pitch from reliever Kyle Bird. Facing reliever Peter Miller with two down, Harrington singled to right to bring Bruno home. Brandon Downes (Fr., South Plainfield, N.J.) then singled to left to score Fisher and Harrington and give UVa a 7-0 lead.
Kyle Crockett (So., Poquoson, Va.) and Justin Thompson (Sr., Danville, Va.) tossed scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to secure the shutout win for UVa.
Virginia now will await its postseason fate. The 16 NCAA Regional host sites will be announced at approximately 3:30 p.m. Sunday on NCAA.com. The field of 64 for the NCAA tournament will be announced at noon Monday on ESPNU.
Ticket books for potential NCAA Baseball Regional and Super Regional tournaments at Davenport Field currently are on sale. Regional all-session ticket books are sold for $60 for reserved seating and $45 for general admission seating, while Super Regional all-session ticket books are $36 for reserved seating and $24 for general admission seating.
Ticket books may be purchased in person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall or by calling the ticket office at (800) 542-8821 or visiting VirginiaSports.com.
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Chris Graham
