Three up, three down: FSU baseball drops G3 to Boston College as bats fall flat

Florida State baseball (18-14, 13-11 ACC) fell to Boston College by a score of 5-3 today. It was a lengthy afternoon at Dick Howser as the game included two weather delays. FSU’s offense was under the weather today, as they produced just four hits and left nine runners on base. On the mound, the ‘Noles allowed 10 hits, but walked just one batter. It was another sloppy defensive day with two FSU errors. The ‘Noles have made an error in eight straight games. Through nine weekends, the Seminoles have completed just one sweep. They’re now 1-4 in the Sunday Golds this year against ACC competition.

Three up

• The Seminoles cracked the scoreboard in the fourth after three easy innings of work for Alex Stiegler. But Matheu Nelson and Robby Martin have made things anything but easy for opposing pitchers this year. After hitting fourth for most of the last few weeks, Nelson was moved up to the two spot today. Nelson led off the fourth with a double down the third base line. It was Nelson’s eighth double of the year. Robby Martin took advantage of a favorable count and a fastball over the middle of the plate. Martin lit up a 2-0 fastball the other way off the scoreboard for a two-run homer. The homer was Martin’s seventh of the season and upped his RBI total to 34. Nelson came through again in the 7th with an RBI single to give him 9 RBI on the weekend.

• Conor Grady wasn’t his best today, but he gave FSU a chance to win again, as he has on almost every Sunday. Grady’s struggles came against the top of the lineup. After Martin’s homer tied it, Grady looked well on his way to a shutdown inning to keep the momentum on the Seminoles’ side. The right-handed pitcher retired the first two batters of the inning with ease. Frelick ripped a double down the the first base line. Brian Dempsey followed with an opposite field single to take a 3-2 lead. It was Dempsey’s second hit off Grady and his seventh hit of the weekend. Outside of the top two, the Tampa native allowed just two hits and a walk. Grady finished with a final line of 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 3 R, 2 ER, and 92 pitches. His season ERA is at 3.63.
• Nelson is putting FSU on his back on both sides of the ball. In the first inning, Nelson retired a one-out single as he gunned down a runner at second with a sub-2.00 pop time. In the ninth, he helped Davis Hare to a 1-2-3 inning with another caught stealing. The catcher blocked a ball in the dirt and gunned down Sal Frelick at second for his 10th caught stealing of the year.

Three down

• FSU’s third inning was a defensive slop fest. Grady worked 1-2-3 frames in the first two innings, but then the rain started and the defense started to crumble. Dante Baldelli lined a ball into the left-center field gap to leadoff the inning. Wyatt Crowell, making the start in CF in place of Reese Albert, came up short on a diving attempt as the ball rolled to the wall for a triple. If Crowell hadn’t have dove for the ball, it likely would’ve been a single or a double. Peter Burns followed with a productive grounder to score Baldelli. Burns also reached base as Nander De Sedas wasn’t able to handle the grounder. The next hitter dropped a sac-bunt down the third base line. Logan Lacey made the play for the out at first base, but with Lacey vacating third, no one covered third base and Burns was able to go from corner-to-corner with ease. With the infield in, Sal Frelick grounded to first, but the ball kicked off Tyler Martin’s glove as Burns was able to score and open a 2-0 lead on an unearned run. Grady was able to limit the damage with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
• Florida State was given every opportunity to tie the game back up in the bottom half of the fifth, but couldn’t do anything with it. Garrett Mathes and Nander De Sedas drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. A streak of seven straight balls ended as Vince Smith couldn’t keep a bunt in fair territory. The next pitch got to the back stop and put two runners in scoring position with no outs. After working a 3-1 count, Smith swung through two straight fastballs for out #1. Tyler Martin followed with a pop up into short RF. After an intentional walk to Nelson, Robby Martin grounded out to first to strand three runners. It was more of the same for Florida State in the 7th inning. Nelson cut the BC lead to one with his RBI single. With the bases loaded and one out, Robby Martin popped out to the third baseman. Elijah Cabell stranded three as he struck out for the third time in a full count. FSU isn’t going to win close games if they don’t make productive outs.
• After the top three in the lineup, FSU’s offense was dreadful today. The ‘Noles didn’t get a single hit from the last six hitters in the order. Cabell was 0-3 with three strikeouts. Wyatt Crowell and Logan Lacey were both 0-4. The bottom six were a combined 0-18. It will be nearly impossible to win games when you get no production from so much of the order.

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