Virginia Softball Takes Down No. 8 Florida State 2-0

Joanna Hardin earned her 200th win as the head coach of the Virginia softball program in epic fashion, as her Cavaliers (27-10, 8-5 ACC) shut out No. 8 Florida State (34-6, 9-1 ACC) with a 2-0 victory in the series opener on Friday evening at Joanne Graf Field in Tallahassee.

In addition to being a perfect 9-0 in ACC play coming into the weekend, the Seminoles also boast the nation's eighth-ranked offense and top offense in the ACC, averaging 8.05 runs per game. UVA's pitching duo of Courtney Layne and Eden Bigham and the Cavalier defense smothered that vaunted FSU offense on Friday.

Layne got the start and retired seven of the first batters she faced and didn't give up a hit until the third inning. She then turned the ball over to Eden Bigham, who pitched the final four innings of the game and gave up just one hit and three total baserunners as she completed the two-hit shutout.

With Layne and Bigham successfully keeping the Seminoles off the scoreboard, the Cavaliers only needed one big moment from their offense. And who else but Jade Hylton to deliver? After stranding runners on base in three of the first four innings, Kailyn Jones hit a two-out triple and then Hylton finally broke the scoreless tie by crushing a pitch over the wall in center field to give Virginia a 2-0 lead.

Jade Hylton got all of that one!

Hoos lead 2-0 at FSU in the fifth!

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— Virginia Softball (@UVASoftball) April 4, 2025

Bigham calmly stranded FSU runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings and then struck out two batters en route to a 1-2-3 seventh inning to secure Virginia's 2-0 victory. Bigham was credited with her 10th win of the season after pitching four scoreless innings and posting six strikeouts. The Seminoles suffered their first loss since March 9th and were shut out for just the third time this season.

"I saw complete conviction from the circle tonight and that set the tone," said UVA head coach Joanna Hardin, who picked up her 200th victory as head coach of the Virginia softball program. "Courtney Layne started us off with nine quality outs and was so good. Eden Bigham then slammed the door. She shook off a few pitches and we knew she was calling her own game. When she’s calling her own game she has a deep-seated belief in what she’s doing."

This was UVA's fourth ranked win of the season and second against a top 10 opponent. Both of those top 10 victories came in the state of Florida, as the Cavaliers also took down then-No. 4 UCLA 7-6 on a walk-off home run from MC Eaton back on February 16th in Clearwater.

"We chipped away, made some adjustments against a really unique bullpen that can diversify what you see," Hardin said of her team's patient offensive approach against FSU. "Jade [Hylton] came up with the big fly and when the bottom of our lineup is getting on to set the table for the top of our lineup, we can do special things. Now we have to go back to work and get ready to play again tomorrow.”

It was nearly two years ago that Virginia last made the trip down to Tallahassee, where the Cavaliers upended then-No. 4 Florida State 6-5 in the middle game of the series, UVA's first win over FSU since 2014 and first in Tallahassee since 2011. Now, after beating the Seminoles on the road again, the Cavaliers will look to earn their most significant series win of Hardin's tenure at Virginia by winning one of the next two games over Florida State. Game 2 is set for Saturday at 1pm ET with game 3 following on Sunday at noon. All of this weekend's games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.