3 up, 3 down: FSU baseball wins 36th regional, 40th game of season

The Florida State baseball team finished up an extremely successful weekend as regional hosts, dominating the Tallahassee regional against Alabama State, Southern Miss, and South Alabama by a combined score of 43-14 to capture the 36 regional championship in school history. The 'Noles also extended their streak of consecutive 40-win seasons: they've now accomplished that feat in 39 straight years. The finishing touches came Sunday evening, when the Seminoles waxed the South Alabama Jaguars by a final score of 18-6.

3 up

1. After being held scoreless in the first inning, FSU quickly took control of this game, leaving no drama as to which squad was the clear-cut class of this region. A two-run home run to straightaway center off the bat of the white-hot Dylan Busby and a two-run double from Taylor Walls staked the 'Noles to a 4-1 lead, and they blew it wide open the following inning powered by home runs from Cal Raleigh, Tyler Holton, and another from Busby that saw the lead balloon to 11-1 after three. A Jackson Lueck three-run long ball in the fifth was the biggest single blow, as he led the Seminoles with four RBI. Even Hayden Kelly got into the act, blasting a solo shot in the seventh. It's the first time six 'Noles have homered in a game since 2008, and six different Florida State players drove in multiple runs.
2. Busby, the regional's Most Outstanding Player, is mashing at an absolutely ridiculous rate right now. His stats this weekend: 8-16 with two home runs, three doubles, a triple, eight RBI, and 19 total bases. As pitching has been FSU's weakness all season, they'll likely go as far as their bats can carry them.
3. That said, FSU got a nice start for the second straight game, as Cole Sands finished with the following line: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB. The way the 'Noles are swinging it, they don't need their arms to be great. They've just got to keep this offense close enough and hope the big innings keep coming.

3 down

1. It looked like the 'Noles, playing as the visiting team, might get started even earlier than they did, when Walls walked to open the game. But a base-running issue, of which the Seminoles have had many this season, saw him caught between first and second after a pitch, and he was picked off at first.
2. You don't see a lot of comeback, 18-6 wins, but this was one of them after a rather brow-raising USA start. Their first batter of the day, Travis Swaggerty, crushed a ball over the right-field fence. It's fair to say Sands, and FSU as a whole, responded.
3. Unlike Saturday's performance, Florida State was unable to play a clean game on Sunday, due to a Walls throwing error in the third. USA's second run came home on a Hank Truluck error in the eighth, when the Jaguars notched three. Truluck atoned shortly thereafter, though, turning a 4-3 double play to get the 'Noles out of the inning with the bases loaded. The Jags scored a pair in the bottom of the ninth.

What remains now is to wait. Florida has two chances to beat Georgia Tech, which was in progress as of press. If the Gators are successful, the 'Nole will be bound for a super regional matchup with UF in Gainesville for the second straight year.