It was another frustrating day for the Noles offense as they were held to only two runs despite having 11 hits and 3 walks plus two Wake Forest errors. Florida State jumped out in front earlier with 2 runs in the 2nd on a walk, a balk and 4 base hits including a double off the bat of Justin Gonzalez who was dropped to 8th in the lineup. The Seminoles had base runners in every inning but couldn't find that timely hit but also had mistakes of their own with terrible decisions to bunt and bad baserunning.
The Deacons tied the game up in the 4th off of Holtmann with a RBI double and single. Holtmann wouldn't make it past the 5th innings as he gave way to Peter Miller who allowed the go ahead run in the 7th. Wake Forest would tack on two more runs in the 8th off of the normally reliable Gage Smith to make it 5-2 which ended up being the final score.
For the series the Noles had 31 hits and 15 walks (.413 OB%) but managed to score only 12 runs, seven coming in game one. The process is there and if the Noles continue to put runners on base as they have been they will score more runs. What was really impressive this weekend was the success of the pitching staff who held a good offense in check. Florida State pitchers thew 30 innings this weekend allowing only 8 runs on 24 hits in which they walked 10 and struck out 23.
A huge week for Florida State lies ahead as they face Stetson for two games and then have the top ranked Virginia Cavaliers come to Tallahassee. The Cavs just won a series against North Carolina and will be a true test of just how well the Noles are playing right now.
FRIDAY - FSU 7-1
The story of the night was Luke Weaver who pitched a beautiful game becoming the second pitcher since Matt Lynch in 2002 to throw two complete games in the same season. The right hander struck out seven and walked only one batter. The lone run surrendered came on one of the three hits he allowed, a solo homerun in the 8th inning. Battling Weaver was the Decaons starting pitcher who went 8 innings keeping the Noles bats in check. The Noles managed only three runs through the first eight frames all coming in the fith inning thanks in part to some timely hits, a sacrifice fly and some costly Wake Forest errors.
DJ Stewart carried a 57 game on base streak into Friday's game and leading off the 8th inning he had yet to reach, down 1-2 in the count he grounded out to the shortstop and it appeared he would remain tied with Shane Robinson for the record. His teammates helped him out in the ninth though with two walks and two hits allowing the sophomore left fielder another shot. With runners on the corners and two outs Stewart singled to left field giving the Noles a 6-1 lead and DJ sole possession of the record.
DJ Stewart sets school record for reaching base in consecutive gms 58 breaking @SUGASHANE43 record-57 at WF tonight. pic.twitter.com/QjhAoQXiCa
— FSU Baseball (@FSU_Baseball) April 19, 2014
SATURDAY - FSU 4-3 13th
This game was a pitcher's duel of sorts as the game remained tied from innings eight through twelve. The Noles were able to chase the Wake Forest starter after only three innings in which he allowed 3 runs on 3 hits but walked 4 batters. Florida State struck first in the third inning with RBI singles from Josh Delph and DJ Stewart and tacked on another run in the fourth with a sac fly off the bat of Ben DeLuzio.
Mike Compton fared much better yesterday than his previous start, he went five innings allowing only 2 runs, the first was a walk that came around to score on a fielder's choice. The second was on the inability of his bullpen to help him out after allowing a leadoff single. Of the four hits allowed they were all singles and only one of the walks came back to hurt him. The Deacons tied it up in the 7th inning on a fielding error by the Noles.
The remainder of the game was pretty all goose eggs on the scoreboard as neither team could capitalize on base runners. It wasn't until the top of the 13th when Danny De la Calle singled into left center scoring John Sansone as he stole second base after he was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Florida State's Heisman winning quarterback had a phenomenal night in which he threw the last 4.2 innings of the game for the Noles allowing only two singles, walking one with two strikeouts.
This win marked the 1800th in the illustrious career of head coach Mike Martin who is still one of the best in the game. His ability to adapt and change with the times still makes him an effective manager and his ability to teach these kids is remarkable. Congratulations to him and the rest of his staff on this milestone.
Congratulations to head coach Mike Martin on career win No. 1800 - 3rd D1 coach in NCAA history to reach the mark pic.twitter.com/nmHpwjZuuP
— FSU Baseball (@FSU_Baseball) April 20, 2014
Due to the volume of comments in the previous game threads today's will be held here. First pitch is at 1PM.
Happy Easter and Go Noles!