The Florida State Seminoles twice rallied from behind, eventually beating the Virginia Tech Hokies, 9-8, in 10 innings. FSU will face VT in tomorrow’s doubleheader (Sunday’s game was moved up due to expected inclement weather). First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for noon. With Friday night’s exhilarating win, Mike Martin is now just one shy of 2,000 career victories.

3 Up

• The Seminoles showed their resilience tonight with veteran players paving the way. In the bottom of the 8th, Junior Drew Mendoza doubled deep to center field driving in Nico Baldor and Nander De Sedas to tie the game, 6-6:

And with FSU trailing by two runs and down to its final out in the bottom of the 10th, classmate J.C. Flowers came through, as well, delivering the game-winning 3-run double:

• Three different Seminoles had solo home runs in Friday’s opener. Cooper Swanson homered for the fourth time in his last five games:

Elijah Cabell hit his team-leading fifth home run (tied with Mendoza):

And Jonathan Foster hit his first home run of the season:

As a team, FSU now has 24 home runs from 11 different players. They all happened to be solo shots on this occasion, but when you hit home runs, you’re more apt to score in bunches.

• LHP Austin Pollock threw his second straight scoreless outing from the bullpen after losing his Sunday starting role. The Sophomore southpaw entered with two of Kwiatkowski’s runners on in the 7th inning and eventually escaped a bases-loaded jam. It wasn’t always pretty, but it’s another step in the right direction.

3 Down

• While the Seminoles’ bullpen has been reliable and one of Florida State’s strengths this year, tonight they struggled when it mattered most. LHP Clayton Kwiatkowski came in at the top of the 7th, and it wasn’t pretty. The Seminoles were only down one run at the time, but the deficit quickly expanded. Kwiatkowski allowed two runs on two hits and two walks before Martin pulled him and replaced him with Pollock. RHP Conor Grady also allowed two runs in the top of the 10^th inning after pitching a scoreless ninth, giving the Hokies an 8-6 lead.
• Florida State struck out 17 times vs. North Florida earlier this week. The Seminoles added 16 on Friday. Frankly, that’s unacceptable. Not all outs are equal, and there were many times when a groundout or flyout would’ve either advanced or scored a runner, while a strikeout invariably accomplishes neither. There’s no doubt freshman Robby Martin has been exceptional at the plate this season, but he’s found himself in a slump. The Tampa native is now 0-for-his-last-10, striking out six times (the lack of productive outs have been killer).
• Jr. LHP Drew Parrish is Florida State’s “ace”. He’s expected to shut down opposing teams every Friday night. At first blush, Parrish’s line looks pretty decent: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K. However, one number sticks out, and it’s the one before “R”. The reason Parrish allowed four runs is because he gave up three home runs to a VT squad that entered the contest having hit just 9 in 11 games.

GAME THREAD

BOX SCORE