The Seminoles picked up another comeback win in a 16-6 win over FAU. The offense had one of their best days of the season, despite another slow start. FSU produced 14 hits and drew 10 walks on the day. Florida State hitters did a good job of going the opposite way and producing line drives against eight FAU pitchers, as five FSU hitters had multiple hits on the day. The offense will hope to carry their momentum into tonight’s game against Texas Tech’s lethal pitching staff.

Three up

• Jack Anderson won this game for FSU. The sophomore posted by far his most impressive outing as a Seminole, working a career high 4.2 innings. After a HBP, Anderson limited the damage early with an inning-ending DP to strand three FAU runners. After a slow start, the RHP kept FSU in the game and gave the offense a chance to get in a rhythm. He allowed just two hits and struck out four. Anderson allowed just one unearned run while throwing 72% strikes on 57 pitches. The outing likely burned him for the midweek start at Mercer, but he gave Mike Martin Jr. everything he could ask for and more. The Tampa-native picked up his first career win with the performance.
• After posting four two-out runs in game one, FSU picked up another win behind clutch hitting. The Seminoles had seven two-out RBI and had five two-out hits. In the fourth inning, FSU had 7 batters come to the plate with two outs and scored five two-out runs. RBI’s win games, two-out RBI win championships. Freshmen Tyler Martin and Doug Kirkland both produced two-out, extra base hits. Robby Martin also came through in the clutch with a two separate two-RBI singles. If FSU can continue to hit at a high-level with two outs, they’ll win a lot of ball games. The next adjustment for this lineup is to figure out how to battle with two strikes.
• Tyler Martin continues to prove the early-season doubters wrong. Martin produced another big day at the plate, going 2-3 with a double, triple, a HBP, and two walks. The leadoff hitter also drove in two runs. On the season, Martin is hitting .409 and .667 with runners in scoring position. He also leads the team with 11 walks, while striking out just two times. He continues to simply put the ball in play and make pitchers work. That’s exactly what FSU needs out of their leadoff hitter.

Three down

• Bryce Hubbart got a rude awakening in his first career start. FAU leadoff hitter, Francisco Urbaez, greeted the freshman with a leadoff, opposite-field homer on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. After a flyout, Bobby Morgensen unloaded on a 1-1 fastball for a no-doubt homer. It took the LHP 41 pitches to get out of the first inning, as he walked two batters after the homers. An error, HBP, and another walk ended his days after just 1.1 IP and 56 pitches. Hubbart got ahead of his hitters, but struggled to put them away with two strikes. The future is still bright, but he likely needs some more time before getting high leverage innings.
• FSU has still yet to have an error-free game this season. The defense only made Hubbart’s struggles worse with two botched plays. In the first inning, Dylan Simmons dropped a foul pop up, which led to a walk and seven extra pitches. The next inning, Jackson Greene made an errant throw to first on a slow roller, which resulted in an unearned run. Greene costed Anderson five pitches in the fourth, as he dropped an easy pop up with two outs. Once again in the sixth, the infield defense costed Anderson. An errant throw from Greene and an unsuccessful scoop from Cooper Swanson led to another unearned FAU run. The defense cannot be this consistently bad if FSU wants to go deep into the postseason.
• It’s been a while since an FSU reliever has appeared in this portion, but Clayton Kwiatkowski had major struggles in the 7th inning. After a strikeout, Kwiatkowski ran into trouble with three straight FAU singles. The Owls got a run on a sac-fly to right, before a walk ended the senior’s day. The lefty managed to get just two outs on 28 pitches. Tyler Ahearn limited the damage to just one run, getting a weak grounder to get out of the inning and maintain the lead.

GAME THREAD

BOX SCORE