3 up, 3 down: No. 13 Florida State smashes Youngstown State to sweep series

Florida State (7-0) swept the double header and series against Youngstown State with gorilla-ball in Game 1 (24-2) and great work out of the bullpen, along with timely hitting in Game 2 (7-4).

3 Up

• It’s hard to pick just one player when FSU puts up 24 runs in a game, so I won’t even try. Robby Martin had a home run and 6 RBI. Elijah Cabell had a grand slam, and Reese Albert, Nander De Sedas, Drew Mendoza, and Carter Smith all added HRs, as well:

Mike Salvatore couldn’t join the long-ball club, but he had 3 hits and 3 RBI out of the leadoff spot:

• Once again, the Seminole bullpen showed out. Only needing 2 innings in a shortened first game Conor Grady allowed 0 runs in 2 innings. Johan Scolaro, Shane Drohan (more on him later), Clayton Kwiatkowski, and Chase Haney gave up just 1 run in 8 innings, while striking out 11. On the season, the pen has given up just 3 runs in 32.1 innings.
• Many fans overrate the importance of runners left on base. This only matters when you don’t score runs and more often than not you score runs when you have base runners. In Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader, Florida State left 14 runners on base, but scored 7. Multiple times FSU batters had good at bats and hit balls hard that just didn’t fall. Consistently getting runners on base results in more runs due to not only more opportunities, but also more pressure on pitchers and defenses. The Seminoles walked 12 times in Game 2, chasing the YSU starter after just 4 innings and 97 pitches. Don’t take my word for it.

3 Down

• In all 3 games this weekend, Florida State’s starting pitcher allowed at least 1 run in the first. A constant was FSU aiding Youngstown State with walks. CJ Van Eyk settled down nicely giving up just 1 run the rest of the way and striking out 6. Austin Pollock gave up a 2-run HR after walking the leadoff hitter and gave up another on a Salvatore error while trying to turn 2. Pollock did get a strike out after loading the bases, but was pulled with no outs in the top of the 2nd after plunking a batter on his first pitch and sending the next one to the back stop. Pollock has looked particularly bad so far this year and “11” has to be considering a different option next Sunday.
• Drohan was called on in relief in the 5th after 3 fantastic innings from Scolaro. The Sophomore southpaw was fortunate to allow just 1 after walking 3 Penguins in his first inning. For some reason, he was still in the game to start the 7th. While Drohan only gave up 1 run, things could have been much worse. Although he allowed no hits and struck out 3, he also issued 5 walks.
• Pollock induced a ground ball to the SS with runners on 1st and 2nd in the 1st. De Sedas got the out at 2nd by flipping the ball to Salvatore, but the senior 2B proceeded to throw the ball away trying to turn an unlikely double play. As a result, another run scored. This would be more understandable if it were a freshman, but on a young team, Salvatore needs to be more responsible, as he’ll be looked to as a leader on this team.

GAME 1 BOX SCORE

GAME 2 BOX SCORE

GAME THREAD

FSU hits the road for a mid-week tilt against a very good USF team on Tuesday at 6:30.