Box Score

No. 3 FSU 12, VT 11

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech staged a late ninth-inning comeback but ultimately fell one run short, 12-11, to Florida State on Saturday in ACC baseball action at English Field.

Down 12-8 heading into the eighth inning, Tech loaded the bases when its first three batters loaded the bases. Pinch hitters Matt Blow (Richmond, Va.) and Steve Bumbry (Cockeysville, Md.) each walked and designated hitter Austin Wates (Richmond, Va.) singled to get the threat started. Shortstop Ty Hohman (Tomball, Texas) followed with a bloop single that landed just out of the charging right fielder's reach, which allowed Blow and Bumbry to score.

Florida State decided to move catcher Buster Posey from behind the plate to the mound to close the game, and after first baseman Sean O'Brien (Chappaqua, N.Y.) singled home Wates, Posey popped catcher Anthony Sosnoskie (Front Royal, Va.) out to second, coerced right fielder Klint Reed (Chesterfield, Va.) into a fielder's choice, and struck out left fielder Jose Cueto (Miami, Fla.) to end the game.

Posey earned his third save for Florida State (18-2, 8-0 ACC), while Bo O'Dell (2-1) was credited with the victory.

Although Tech dropped its 11^th consecutive game to fall to 7-14 overall and 0-8 in the ACC, it was by far the best offensive game yet for the Hokies in league play. They racked up 14 hits to score their 11 runs, which was just one run shy of the 12 runs they tallied in the first six ACC games combined.

Freshman Sean McDermott (Walpole, Mass.), who took over for starter David Cross (Scottsdale, Ariz.) after one inning, got tagged with the loss for Tech to fall to 1-3 on the season. Six Hokies tallied at least two hits in the game, and Reed reached base in all six of his plate appearances. Hohman tallied a team-high three RBIs.

After Tyler Holt and Jack Rye got on base via two of Cross' five walks in the first inning, Florida State's Dennis Guinn took advantage of the blustery winds and launched his seventh home run of the season into the left-center field jet stream to give the Seminoles a 3-0 lead.

The Hokies answered back quickly in their first time up to take a brief 4-3 lead. Wates and Hohman got things started with a pair of first-pitch singles before Sosnoskie walked to load the bases. Reed then collected his first RBIs as a Hokie when he delivered a two-run single to plate Wates and Hohman. Cueto then hit into a fielder's choice, but all runners were safe after FSU second baseman Jason Stidham came off the bag early. Sosnoskie and Reed scored the third and fourth runs when Stidham made an errant throw on grounder by center fielder Sean Ryan (Ashburn, Va.).

Florida State tied the game up at four in the top of the second when Holt scored his second run of the game. After leading off with a single, he moved to third on a base hit by Stidham and scurried home on a double play ball to second base.

Tech reclaimed the advantage in the bottom of the second thanks to a pair of doubles by second baseman Matt Hacker (Richmond, Va.) and Sosnoskie. Hacker led off the inning with a two bagger and moved to third on a fly to right by Wates before touching home on a ground out to short by Hohman. O'Brien followed with a walk and then raced around from first on one of Sosnoskie's two doubles on the day.

An RBI double by Wates scored Hacker to push Tech's lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth, but just like on Friday, a one-inning scoring binge by Florida State would prove to decide the outcome of the game.

After cruising through his first four innings in relief, things got rough for McDermott in the sixth. Beginning with a Jack Posey walk and ending with a Tony Delmonico three-run homer, each of FSU's first seven batters in the sixth reached base and scored. Mike McGee also tripled and scored on a balk by Tech reliever Brandon Fisher to give the 'Noles a total of eight runs in the inning and 12-7 lead.

O'Brien added a run for the Hokies in the eighth when he doubled and scored on a throwing error by the FSU shortstop three batters later.

The two teams are scheduled to play the final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.