3 Up, 3 Down: Florida State baseball crushes Mount. St. Mary’s in Tallahassee

The Florida State Seminoles started off this weekend’s four game series with a bang in a 12-2 victory against Mount St. Mary’s. FSU’s bats came alive, along with an elite pitching performance by sophomore left-hander Drew Parrish.

Three Up:

• Parrish (4-0) had another phenomenal pitching performance Friday night, striking out eleven without walking a single batter over seven innings. The southpaw allowed just one earned run and dropped his ERA to a very solid 2.33, earning his fourth win in the process. Parrish continues to define himself as a reliable starter in the weekend rotation and will be an important asset for the ’Noles during postseason play.
• Florida State’s offense excelled, contributing for eleven hits. Nine out of the eleven were extra-base hits, including eight doubles and a Jackson Lueck laser shot to right field. FSU also showed its patented patience at the plate, walking eleven times adding to its nation-leading total. The Seminoles also only struck out twice in 47 plate appearances, almost always a recipe for success.
• Having centerfielder JC Flowers back in the lineup was a huge plus for the ’Noles, after a terrible injury in the UNC series knocked the sophomore out of the lineup for over a month. With Flowers back, it allowed Lueck to DH, where he excelled, going 2-for-4 with 3 RBI.

Three Down:

• The Seminoles had 3 errors on the night, including back-to-back errors by Drew Mendoza and Rafael Bournigal early in the game, leading to an unearned run. Mendoza now has a team-leading 12 errors this season. It was obviously a blowout, so it didn’t end up costing FSU the game, but as was the case the other night against Jacksonville, when you give the other team extra outs, you’re asking for trouble.
• Even though FSU had a 10-2 lead entering the 8th, Mike Martin decided to stick with Cal Raleigh behind the plate. This is not wise. Raleigh has caught the vast majority of innings this season for the ’Noles, and it’s getting into crunch-time. Every opportunity to give his legs a rest is worthwhile. Hopefully, the staff gives him at least one of the two games off behind-the-plate during Saturday’s doubleheader (it’s perfectly suitable to DH him in these situations).
• After being named ACC Player of the Week, Steven Wells finds himself in a major slump, struggling to get himself back in the groove. Wells went 0-for-3 tonight, and is now hitting just .143 (5-35) since the Boston College series (9 game stretch). The right fielder will be a vital player for the Seminoles in the postseason, so hopefully Wells figures it out sooner rather than later.

BOX SCORE

GAME THREAD

On Deck:

Florida State hosts Mount St. Mary’s for a “day-night” double-header Saturday. Game 1 starts at 2 pm (first pitch of Game 2 is scheduled for an hour after the conclusion of the opener).