Any time you can go on the road and win a 3 game series it should be considered an accomplishment and that is exactly what the Seminoles did this past weekend in Cary, North Carolina as they took 2 games from the Duke Blue Devils. Florida State got help from a Georgia Tech team that swept Clemson putting the ‘Noles two games up in the division. I have said it before that I am extremely glad we don't play GT this year as their offense would play homerun derby off of our pitching staff.
Game 1 featured a career night from Tyler Holt as he homered in his first two at bats of the night. The ‘Noles offense struck early putting up 10 runs in the first 3 innings which was more than enough for starter Sean Gilmartin. The lefty sophomore did what any Friday starter should do against a lesser hitting team as he pitched 8 strong innings allowing 3 runs on 8 hits striking out 6 while walking 2. Kudos to Mike Martin for sticking with senior shortstop Stephen Cardullo, it only took him 2 series against the worst pitching staffs in the conference to finally get his batting average over the Mendoza Line. FSU 16-3
Game 2 saw Brian Busch get his first start of the season and all was looking good through 5 innings as he only allowed 1 earned run. Busch had only pitched more than 4 innings once this season and when he took the mound in the bottom of the 6th he hit his wall. Three hits to lead off the inning brought out the hook in favor of Tyler Everett. Unfortunately for the ‘Noles this was not the same Tyler Everett we have seen all season as he had his worst outing of the season allowing all of his inherited runners to score as well as giving up 5 earned on his own. The Florida State offense managed to score 6 runs but was constantly crippled by the archaic way that the #11 manages a baseball game. Kudos to Mike Martin for bunting Stuart Tapley (.969 OPS) with runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs in the top of the 2nd inning, your ingenious move plated 1 run when statistics show in that situation you are likely to score much more. Duke 10-6
Game 3 was a total shocker. If I was to tell you that John Gast and Geoff Parker were to pitch in the same game you would probably expect disastrous results. On Sunday it was just the opposite as the two combined to go 8 innings, Gast for 5 and Parker for 3. The Seminoles offense took advantage of past balls and walks en route to a series clinching win. Kudos to Mike Martin for starting Devon Travis all 3 games, you continue to give hope to less talented middle infielders everywhere that they too can fulfill their dream of playing big time college baseball. FSU 8-3
Other Baseball News:
Tyler Holt continued to improve his draft status this past weekend and it earned him ACC Player of the Week honors. He becomes the 3rd Seminole this season to do so.
Looking Ahead:
Florida State hosts Charleston Southern Tuesday and Wednesday. Scott Sitz will get the start on Tuesday and will be on a strict pitch count limit of 45 as he has been moved to the Sunday starting spot against Miami this upcoming weekend. I would expect Hunter Scantling to the start on Wednesday.
This upcoming weekend Florida State hosts rival Miami Hurricanes. They Hurricanes have flown under the radar most of the season but they are a very very good team and I am already anticipating a bad outcome. Come back later in the week for a series preview.
Go Noles!