Florida State entered this midweek contest against Jacksonville coming off a weekend home sweep against The Citadel, and sitting at No. 18 in the most recent Baseball America poll and No. 20 in the D1 Baseball poll. Unfortunately, whatever momentum the Seminoles carried was immediately dashed by Jacksonville’s explosive bats early on in Tuesday night’s game. It took a large comeback for Florida State to end up victorious against the Dolphins.
The first pitch of Rhett Vaughn’s outing was sent over the right field fence for a solo shot by Jacksonville’s Cade Walter. This was only the beginning of his disastrous first inning. After giving up back-to-back laser singles, a double down the right field line brought in the second run of the inning. This was followed by another RBI single that second baseman Eli Putnam mishandled but was ruled a hit. Another single scored two more Jacksonville Dolphins.
After the sixth hit of the inning, the Seminoles made a pitching change to Kevin Mebil. Vaughn’s day was over with a line of 0.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER and 1 K. Mebil came in and was able to escape the first inning with the score at 5-0.
The Seminoles came out firing in their half of the first inning with a Noah Sheffield double smoked down the left field line that immediately was cashed in by a Myles Bailey line drive single to right field that beat the shift. With two outs, Brody DeLamielleure fought his way deep into a 3-2 count and lined a double off the fence, scoring Myles Bailey. Following him, the cycle continued with John Stuetzer lining one to right field that ate up the right fielder and got to the wall on a failed dive attempt. Florida State left the first inning narrowing the score to 5-3.
Kevin Mebil walked the first batter in the top of the second but quickly retired the side on a fly-out and a comebacker that he turned into a double play. In the bottom half, Chase Williams got on with a single, and a Gabe Fraser slow roller that was botched by the second baseman led to his reaching base and Williams advancing all the way to third. That was important because a fly ball by the next batter Noah Sheffield led to Williams scoring from third on a tag up. The second inning closed with the score 5-4 Jacksonville.
DeLamielleure quickly started the bottom half of the third with an opposite-field bomb over the right field fence to tie the game at 5. Gabe Nard came in for Florida State to start the fourth. Mebil’s day ended with 2.2 IP, 0 hits, 2 Ks and 1 BB.
In the top of the fifth, Nard allowed a walk, but on the next play, Myles Bailey made a stellar play to come off the first base bag and roll a 3-6-1 double play to close the inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Hunter Carns doubled to lead off the inning before advancing to third on a passed ball. Carter McCulley followed with a walk before John Stuetzer laid down a safety squeeze that scored one and allowed Stuetzer to reach safely. The small-ball game continued as Eli Putnam opted for the same bunt strategy and moved the two runners to second and third with one out. Two batters struck out, ending the potential rally for FSU.
Cade O’Leary came out to replace Nard in the top of the sixth. Nard’s final line was 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 2 BB and 1 K. O’Leary closed out the inning quickly with two strikeouts and a fly out.
In the top of the seventh, a wild pitch led to a Jacksonville run to tie the game at 6. John Abraham relieved O’Leary with two already on base and one out. Abraham helped get out of the jam with two huge strikeouts. Florida State couldn’t convert on its own runners in scoring position in the bottom of the inning.
A triple in the top of the eighth made for an opportune situation for Jacksonville with one out. Abraham struck out the next batter, and a bang-bang play at first on a ground ball got FSU out of the inning.
Abraham took the mound again for the ninth and struck out three, the last on a 95 mph fastball. Stuetzer led off the bottom of the ninth with a rocket to the right-center gap to put a man on second with no outs. After a walk and a subsequent balk, Florida State had two runners in scoring position with no outs and the winning run at third. After an intentional walk, Putnam came up to the plate with the chance to win the game and did just that with a walk-off single to deep center field.
Florida State won despite it becoming a bullpen game after just one-third of an inning. Impressive performances by the bullpen marked the night for the Seminoles, with relievers posting a combined line of 8.2 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 12 Ks and 5 BB. Combined with timely situational baseball late in the game, it was enough to win.
Standout performances at the plate included Stuetzer’s 3-for-3 night with two RBIs, DeLamielleure’s 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs, and Carns’ 2-for-5 with two doubles.
The Seminoles have a quick turnaround as they take on Mercer at home Wednesday at 5 p.m. EST. They will look to continue their five-game win streak against the Bears.