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Starter Andrew Karp pitched a masterful game for Florida State baseball, giving the ‘Noles a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the top of the ninth. However, five different relievers were unable to stop the stampede created by the USF Bulls in that top half of the ninth inning when they exploded for their four runs of the game.
After all nine were completed, Florida State saw it self on the losing end of a 4-2 score.
Three up:
1) Florida State starting pitcher Andrew Karp put up the best start in his career on Tuesday. The redshirt sophomore went a carer-high seven innings, allowed three hits, did not walk a batter and recorded nine strikeouts. That’s already more strikeouts than he had in nine appearances and two starts in 2016. If Karp continues to dominate like he did on Tuesday, he could find his way pitching on the weekend before the season is over.
2) RF Rhett Aplin got the Seminoles’ only hit all game which opened up the scoring. His two-out RBI double in the first was just another stepping stone to the new look ‘Noles, and the many contributions from first year players. Centerfielder JC Flowers, another first-year player, recorded the only other RBI for FSU.
3) Although there were not too many positive moments from Tuesday’s game, Florida State head coach Mike Martin said postgame, following a very long pause, that he was pleased with the battles that FSU put forth at the plate, along with the energy from from the bench.
Three down:
1) Following an opening day shutout, FSU scored double digit runs in each of the final two games vs. VCU. On Tuesday, the ‘Noles took a step back, only recording one hit in the entire game. Overall, the team hit 1-28 (.036). Luckily for FSU, the Bulls did not fare much better, going 4-29 (.138) for the entirety of the game.
To go along with the one hit, the ‘Noles patience at the plate was lackluster. The team has always been known for its patience, drawing walks, however on Tuesday FSU only had four total walks (two by Taylor Walls) and struck out seven times. This shouldn’t be a trend that Florida State continues to follow, especially after the 19 walks FSU drew in the three game series vs. VCU.
2) The inconsistency in run production is not something that should be encouraged going forward. FSU scored 0-12-11-2 runs through the first four games, recording 1-12-13-1 hits respectively in those.
3) The ninth inning was an absolute mess for the FSU bullpen. Chase Haney hit a batter to begin the inning, followed by Jim Voyles who recorded a strike out and then walked a batter. Alec Byrd then came in and walked a batter to load the bases. Will Zirzow then came in to walk a run home, threw a wild pitch that led to the tying run to score, and then immediately walked the bases loaded once again. USF then scored on a sacrifice fly. After having a 2-0 lead, it was 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth.