Florida State was ready to exact its revenge in full Sunday after its defeat Friday and narrow victory Saturday, and to say it came out swinging is an understatement. Back once again at Joanne Graf Field in Tallahassee, Fla., Virginia was hoping to pick up a series win against the Seminoles (36-6, 11-1 ACC) that bumped up both its conference and national rankings. Instead, it incurred a 13-2 loss in five innings.
The Cavaliers (27-12, 8-7 ACC) were not ready for how quickly Florida State would strike Sunday afternoon, though. A 7-0 lead built in just the first inning showed exactly why the Seminoles are ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation.
Stunned, Virginia could not muster a response until the fourth inning. In the meantime, Florida State kept profiting off of its early momentum — building a 13-0 lead by the end of the third inning.
“No secret — tough game, tough day,” Coach Joanna Hardin said. “We know that, we’re very clear on that. I think the question for us is how we want to use that and learn from that to respond.”
The Cavalier defense could not slow the Seminoles down. Freshman pitcher Ava Hodges made the start for Virginia, an interesting change from junior pitcher Eden Bigham, the typical starter who took the loss in yesterday’s faceoff.
A pair of walks and a home run quickly began Florida State’s offensive attacks, and just as quick as the Seminoles established a lead, Hodges was not on the mound for the rest of the game.
Junior pitcher Courtney Layne and sophomore pitcher Julia Cuozzo handled the rest of the pitching for the final four innings, but it did not improve the final results by much. Cuozzo was able to hold the Seminoles to no runs in the final two innings, retiring Florida State in order in the bottom of the fourth inning. Unfortunately, it was just too little, too late to change the final result.
Hardin tried to make substitutions to provide Virginia with a spark on offense. The Cavaliers brought junior outfielder Kelsey Hackett in earlier in the game, in the hopes that she could help cut into the Seminole’s lead. Hackett had not struck out all season, so it seemed that she could be exactly what Virginia needed. Unfortunately, her streak ended, and the third out put Florida State back at bat.
Fortunately, sophomore infielder Macee Eaton and senior utility player Sarah Coon helped Virginia muster an offensive response in the fourth inning — the Cavaliers were shut out for three innings by the Seminoles’ stellar pitching team, led by sophomore pitcher Ashtyn Danley. Both Eaton and Coon struck home runs to get Virginia on the board, but with no one else on the bases, the gap was only narrowed by two runs.
By the end of the fifth inning, the game was over due to the mercy rule, and Virginia had to start its drive back to Charlottesville. At the end of the day, this loss will be a good learning experience for Virginia, as it will need to be prepared to face strong squads like Florida State later this season if it wants a chance to go far in the postseason.
“Great teams make you pay for mistakes,” Hardin said. “So I think that that’s a takeaway from a lot of great things from this weekend.”
The Cavaliers will head to Lynchburg next to face Liberty Tuesday evening. Facing opponents outside the conference will help Virginia stay on its toes and prepare for postseason play.
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