The questions had been circling around the Virginia baseball team all year. Were they talented enough? Had coach Dennis Womack's fire burned out? How were they going to be competitive with a band-aid pitching staff that featured a former trainer?
The questions even started to surround Kevin Shrout. After the junior pitcher started off the 2000 season with several impressive starts, his pitching began to falter as the competition heated up. And yesterday, the righthander faced the most devastating lineup in college baseball.
|
But against No. 1 Florida State early yesterday afternoon, Shrout was superb, allowing only one run on seven hits in one of the finest outings of his career. The Cavs, meanwhile, rode Shrout's performance to their biggest win of the season, a 2-1 upset of the consensus No. 1 team in the nation.
The upset was sandwiched between two Florida State comeback victories - a 9-6 triumph Saturday and a 10-4 win in the late game yesterday - but the Cavs (15-17, 3-6 ACC) are left with memories of their shocking upset in the early game to drive them through the last third of the 2000 season.
"I think we're still going to the same place we've expected to go all year: to the top of the conference," sophomore outfielder David Stone said. "Everything is starting to click now. When you pull off an upset against the top team in the country, you know you can play with anybody."
Compared to Virginia's combination of walk-ons and partial scholarship players, the Seminoles (31-5, 9-3) were like Tiger Woods facing a public course hacker. In the first game Saturday, the dominance of their All-American-laden squad showed as the 'Noles fell behind early, 4-1, but stormed back with three runs in both the fifth and sixth to spur the 9-6 victory.
In Sunday's first game, however, Shrout shrugged off a performance last week where he surrendered nine runs to Wake Forest and kept Florida State in check for six and two-thirds innings, holding them to only one first-inning run.
"Anytime I go out on the mound, I'm expecting to have a good performance," Shrout said. "I always have confidence no matter who I'm pitching against."
At the top of the inning, however, FSU's starter was equally dominant. Michael Ziegler, a junior college transfer, silenced the Cavs' bats for seven innings, making the score 1-0 in favor of the 'Noles entering the eighth inning.
The Cavs completed the upset in the eighth with a Tim LaVigne sacrifice fly that scored Jon Benick. Two batters later, catcher Mark Rueffert recorded the game-winning RBI single that drove in Luis Giraldo.
With the knowledge now that they handed the Seminoles only their fifth loss of the year, the Cavs will refocus on the remainder of the season with more optimism - something that was lacking in a recent stretch where they lost five of eight games.
"We have a very good shot at getting a regional bid now and doing well in the conference," Shrout said. "I think we're capable of getting 30 to 35 wins."
Read More
No. 6 men’s lacrosse falters late, fumbling chance at huge victory over No. 1 Notre Dame
By Michael Liebermann | 1 hours agoThe ache of last season's defeat will persist.
No. 6 women’s lacrosse eliminated by No. 4 Syracuse in ACC Semifinal
By Peter Kratz | 1 hours agoA forgettable first-half performance sunk the ship for the Cavaliers.
Malik Washington selected 184th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins
By Xander Tilock | 23 hours agoWashington may have fallen down the draft board, but he will surely make a significant impact at the professional level.
