Florida State (19-12) had gone 26 consecutive innings without scoring a run before Mike Salvatore drove in Alex Sanchez on a double in the third. FSU and Miami (20-12) traded punches for the entirety of the game but the ‘Noles prevailed 6-5.

3 Up

• Hits, finally, hits. Multiple Seminoles had multi-hit games including Salvatore, Drew Mendoza and Alex Sanchez. In fact Sanchez (starting in place of Robby Martin) made the most of his opportunity going 3-4 with a double and the first run scored of the game. Both J.C. Flowers and Jonathan Foster went yard meaning that four of FSU’s ten hits went for extra bases.
• Jonah Scolaro pitched a strong 3.1 innings giving up zero runs while striking out four and giving up one hit. He did issue four walks but on a day another FSU starter struggled the ‘Noles needed to rely on their pen and Scolaro gave them enough.
• What more could be said about Flowers. The junior has really improved his play this year pairing his already strong defensive ability in center field with an improved bat and taking over the closer role. Flowers had two RBI in the game, one coming off a HR in the fourth with FSU down one and the other on a sacrifice bunt in the fifth with FSU trailing. He also picked up the two inning save. He did give up two hits, one of which was a solo HR, but limited the damage by not walking anybody.

3 Down

• FSU just does not have any starting pitching to speak of. No starter lasted more than 4.2 innings this week with Saturday starter CJ Van Eyk going on the longest. On Sunday it was Shane Drohan’s turn and just like his fellow starters Drohan gave up four runs on the day through just 3.1 innings. It’s obvious Drohan wasn’t fooling anybody as he gave up seven hits and two walks to just four strike outs. In a year that the Seminoles needed to depend on their starting pitchers they’ve been found wanting.
• Both Elijah Cabell and Nander De Sedas started the season off well. Cabell in particular looked like an all conference candidate but since the first Florida game in March both have been disasters. Cabell struck out in all five plate appearances, which is extremely impressive, while De Sedas K’d in three of his five. Cabell now has 52 strike outs on the year in his 99 at bats, which means he is striking out about 40% of the time (he has 28 walks on the year). De Sedas isn’t much better striking out on about 30% of his plate appearances (101 AB, 18 BB, 38 H). Add in Mendoza and those three are responsible for 42% of the team’s strike outs, 28% of the team’s hits, 44% of HR and 41% of walks. De Sedas did get a hit and came around to score and Cabell did throw a runner out at the plate so it’s not all terrible (caveat: De Sedas is now playing 2B because of questionable defense) but FSU needs a bit more from their four and six hole hitters.
• Cabell and De Sedas were not the only offenders against Miami. On the plus side Florida State recorded ten hits (four of which went for extra bases) but only two walks and 18(!) strike outs. There were 27 outs recorded, which means only nine were recorded by fielders. Every Seminole that recorded an at bat struck out at least once.

Game Thread

Box Score

Florida State looks to make it two wins in a row as they host Florida for the final time in Mike Martin’s career, Tuesday at 6:00 PM.