Florida State wins 7-3 to eliminate Virginia at the MCWS

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Jaime Ferrer smashed two home runs to back the pitching of Carson Dorsey as the Florida State Seminoles survived to play another day at the Men’s College World Series, eliminating the Virginia Cavaliers 7-3 Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference improved to 6-1 in the NCAA tournament and to 1-1 in the MCWS.

Ferrer led off the fourth inning with a solo shot and added a three-run blast in the fifth for three homers in two MCWS games and five in his past four NCAA playoff games. An FSU junior from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Ferrer is batting .324 with 22 home runs and 66 RBI for the season.

Dorsey pitched into the eighth inning to pace the Seminoles. He gave up three runs and struck out seven. In three NCAA tournament starts, Dorsey has yielded five earned runs in 21 innings while striking out 20. He is a junior lefthander from Panama City, Fla.

Records

Florida State 48-16
Virginia 46-17

Coming up

Florida State advanced to the bracket semifinals to face either the Tennessee Volunteers or the North Carolina Tar Heels.

North Carolina beats Virginia in College World Series opener

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

The North Carolina Tar Heels edged past the Virginia Cavaliers 3-2 on Friday afternoon when Vance Honeycutt slapped an RBI single through the left side in ninth inning for a game-winning hit in the opener of the Men’s College World Series.

Pitchers Jason DeCaro, Matt Poston and Dalton Pence combined to lead Tar Heels pitching that limited the Cavaliers to five hits. Offensively, Casey Cook went three for four, scored a run and produced an RBI.

Jason Van De Brake led off the bottom of the ninth with a double for the Tar Heels and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two out, Honeycutt came to the plate without a hit in four at bats.

He and produced the RBI single, handing the Cavaliers their first loss in the NCAA tournament.

Records

North Carolina 48-14
Virginia 46-16

Coming up

Tennessee vs. Florida State, Friday at 6 p.m. The loser will face Virginia in an elimination game on Sunday at 1 p.m., while the winner will take on North Carolina in the winners bracket Sunday at 6 p.m.

Notable

In Saturday’s games, Kentucky will take on North Carolina State at 1 p.m. Texas A&M will play Florida at 6 p.m. Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle has named Justin Lamkin as his starting pitcher against the Gators.

Top-ranked Duke hosts Syracuse and No. 4 Virginia this week

There hasn’t been much change at the top of the Associated Press Top 25 poll recently, but the rankings among the elite could be in for a shakeup as marquee games loom in the coming days.

The top-ranked Duke Blue Devils, for instance, will host unranked Syracuse tonight and then will brace for a visit from undefeated and No. 4 Virginia on Saturday.

Virginia hosts ninth-ranked Virginia Tech on Tuesday before making the trek to Durham to face Duke this weekend.

For the fourth straight week, the top four in the rankings remained the same — Duke, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia — as the new poll came out Monday.

For the second week in a row, the top 10 stayed in the same order.

AP Top 25

1. Duke 14-1 ACC
2. Michigan 17-0 Big Ten
3. Tennessee 14-1 SEC
4. Virginia 15-0 ACC
5. Gonzaga 16-2 West Coast
6. Michigan State 15-2 Big Ten
7. Kansas 14-2 Big 12
8. Texas Tech 15-1 Big 12
9. Virginia Tech 14-1 ACC
10. Nevada 16-1 Mountain West
11. Florida State 13-3 ACC
12. Kentucky 12-3 SEC
13. North Carolina 12-4 ACC
14. Auburn 12-3 SEC
15. Marquette 14-3 Big East
16. Buffalo 15-1 Mid-American
17. North Carolina State 14-2 ACC
18. Ole Miss 13-2 SEC
19. Maryland 14-3 Big Ten
20. Oklahoma 13-3 Big 12
21. Houston 16-1 American
22. Villanova 13-4 Big East
23. Iowa 14-3 Big Ten
24. Mississippi State 12-3 SEC
25. Indiana 12-4 Big Ten