Few college baseball teams have had more success than the University of Virginia, including a College World Series appearance in the past 15 years and three CWS appearances in the past four seasons, but things were very different when the Cavaliers arrived in Omaha, with disappointing results.
Brian O’Connor’s Cavaliers made an impressive run to a second consecutive College World Series, but their stay in Omaha ended after just two games. No. 12 Virginia (46-17) was eliminated from the 2024 College World Series after a 7-3 loss to No. 8 Florida State (48-16) on Sunday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t win today and had a chance to advance, but first I want to congratulate Florida State. They’re a very good team and have a great coaching staff and they deserved to win today,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said.
On June 20, 2021, Virginia opened the College World Series with a commanding 6-0 victory over No. 3 seed Tennessee. Virginia carried that momentum to Omaha by winning six consecutive elimination games in the Regional and Super Regional rounds. Since then, Virginia has played six more CWS games and is 0-6, including four losses by one point.
While Friday’s loss to North Carolina was another heartbreaking walk-off defeat to Vance Honeycutt and the ACC-rival Tar Heels, Sunday’s loss to Florida State was less dramatic, though for the same main reason: Virginia’s offense, which ranks in the top five of college baseball in hits, batting average and runs scored, went cold again in Omaha.
Florida State starting pitcher Carson Dorsey deserves a lot of credit for this result. After allowing three hits in the first two innings, Dorsey didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning and then shut out the vaunted Cavaliers lineup until the seventh inning.
“The game came down to them being very mobile,” O’Connor said. “First of all, Dorsey was outstanding. He pitched his best in weeks, controlled multiple pitches and dominated the right-handed pitchers. He was very calm and pitched well.”
By the time UVA finally scored, Virginia’s resurgent pitching staff, which had powered the team’s run to the NCAA Tournament in Omaha, had already weakened.
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Jay Woolfolk, who was later found to have a right meniscus problem possibly related to an injury he suffered while playing for the University of Virginia football team, struck out the first seven batters but allowed two singles and two walks in the bottom of the third inning, scoring one run on a walk to give the Seminoles a 1–0 lead. On the first pitch of the fourth inning, Woolfolk slipped and was hit out of the park by Jaime Ferrer for a solo home run, aggravating his knee injury.
Woolfolk faced two more batters before leaving the game, apparently with significant pain in his right knee. His replacement, Joe Sabino, retired the first three batters he faced but then gave up a double to Cam Smith, a one-run RBI single to Marco Dingess and a three-run homer to Feller, who has eight RBI in the first two games of the College World Series and is currently asserting his status as the best hitter in college baseball.
Ferrer’s three-run homer made it 6-0, and Alex Rodies added a solo homer off Sabino in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-0. Sabino, who has emerged as a capable No. 2 starter in the second half of the season and has been a key to Virginia’s pitching success, gave up five runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of work.
“We had opportunities to take advantage and we didn’t take full advantage,” O’Connor said. “I feel bad for Joe Sabino. When Jay got hurt and Joe took over, we had a lot of confidence in him and they had a great approach with him with two outs and took advantage.”
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Virginia finally beat Dorsey in the top of the seventh, driving in two runs on singles from Ethan Anderson, Anthony Stephens, Henry Godbout and Casey Sawke. Dorsey stayed on the mound for the eighth inning, throwing more than 100 pitches, and gave up a single to leadoff hitter Jacob Ference, who scored on a double by Stephens. After allowing that double, FSU relief pitcher Brennan Oxford rallied to finish the eighth inning, then induced a double play in the ninth to end the game and Virginia’s season.
Virginia’s pitchers, Angelo Tonas retired all six batters he faced and Matt Augustin kept the Seminoles in check in the bottom of the eighth, not allowing any more runs. But Woolfolk’s long start due to physical issues, Sabino’s disastrous pitching, and perhaps most importantly, Virginia’s offense in a coma until it was too late, ultimately cost the Cavaliers another 0-2 record in the College World Series.
“When you get to the postseason, it’s normal for anyone other than the national champions to end their season with a loss, and that’s just the way it is,” O’Connor said. “We lost today, but we’ll take it and move on, but I’m proud of the young men who put on our uniform and fight and compete every day and represent themselves, their families and this baseball team. They always represent their team with class. They play the game the right way, and sometimes the games are tough and brutal, like they were this weekend, but that doesn’t take away from the Virginia baseball team’s season and the path we’re on going forward.”
With the win, Florida State stays on the season and will face the loser of No. 1 Tennessee or No. 4 North Carolina (Sunday, 7 p.m.) in another consolation game at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the University of Virginia will finish the 2024 college baseball season with an overall record of 46-17.