Three up, three down: FSU falls to Samford in extras

Tallahassee, FL- Florida State baseball fell to the Samford Bulldogs 7-4 in extra innings on Sunday afternoon. The Seminoles were up by one run heading into the eighth inning, but a pair of blasts by Colton Ledbetter pushed Samford over the Seminoles. Through two weeks of baseball, FSU is 5-2.

Samford: 7 runs / 9 hits / 0 errors / 6 LOB

FSU: 4 runs / 8 hits / 2 errors / 5 LOB

Box score

Game thread

Three up

• Ferrer’s first HR comes at perfect time: Freshman Jaime Ferrer has been a force early in the season for the Seminoles’ lineup. Ferrer entered Sunday with a .333 average and a six-game hitting streak. The freshman extended his hit-streak to seven games at the perfect time. James Tibbs reached base in the sixth on a one-out hit-by-pitch. Ferrer made the Bulldogs pay for the mistake. The right-handed hitter took a low-and-away fastball and skied it over the right-field fence for a two-run homer, the first of his career. His opposite field shot gave the Seminoles a 3-2 lead after six.

• Dunn sets career highs: Ross Dunn still wasn’t his sharpest on Sunday but he tossed four quality innings for the ‘Noles. Dunn’s day got off to a smooth start with a 1-2-3 first inning. He needed just seven pitches to get through the frame. In the second inning, the Bulldogs made Dunn throw 29 pitches. Dunn allowed an 11-pitch walk and hit a batter but he stranded both runners as he struck out three in the frame. In the third, the southpaw worked stranded two more Bulldogs on base with a strikeout and a lineout to left. The traffic on the bases finally got to Dunn in the fourth. After a leadoff walk, Kaden Dreier launched a fly-ball over the right-field fence for a two-run homer. The HR gave Samford a 2-1 lead, their first lead of the weekend. Dunn bounced back after the homer with back-to-back strikeouts.

The sophomore posted a final line of 4 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 2 R, 77 P (68% strikes). Dunn’s four innings pitched and eight strikeouts were both career highs. Dunn improved his strike percentage by a good-bit from his first outing, but when he missed the zone, it missed by a good bit. The consistency of his breaking ball will be key moving forward.

• Tibbs ties it in the eighth: The Seminoles trailed by one with four outs remaining in the game. Tibbs stepped in the box against Samford’s closer Carson Hobbs with two outs in the eighth and nobody on base. The freshman worked the count full after fouling a couple pitches straight back. The left-handed hitter got every bit of a 3-2 fastball from the right-handed pitcher. Tibbs launched a game-tying homer over the right field fence that traveled 430 feet and left the bat at 107 MPH. It was his second HR of the season.

Three down

• Baserunning, again: As it has most of the season so far, FSU’s baserunning left a good bit to be desired on Sunday. The Seminoles have run into at least one out on the bases every game. Today, the ‘Noles ran into two early outs. In the first inning, Brett Roberts lined a two-out double down the left field line. Mike Martin Jr. gave Alex Toral, who was on first after a walk, the wave home but Toral was thrown out by a few feet to end the inning. Reese Albert led off the fifth inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Logan Lacey chopped a grounder to the right of the shortstop. Albert tried to move up to third but was thrown out by a few feet as the ball took the SS directly towards third.
• Samford takes the lead in the 8th: Jackson Nezuh and Andrew Armtstong combined for three scoreless frames out of FSU’s pen from the fifth to the seventh. Jackson Baumeister took over the mound to start the eighth. Will David led off the inning with a grounder down the RF line for a double. Jonah Scolaro entered the game with runners on the corners and no outs after a single into right. The Bulldogs tied the game as the Seminoles turned a 6-4-3 GDP. Moments later, Colton Ledbetter gave Samford a 4-3 lead with a no-doubt HR to right field.
• Pair of errors: The Seminoles made a couple of errors today. In the fifth inning, Carrion rushed a play at shortstop trying to run a double play and mishandled a chopper to allow everyone to reach base. In the sixth, Nezuh dropped a toss from Alex Toral on a grounder to first. Neither error led to a run.
• Extra: The Seminoles had a chance for a walk-off win if they could scrape across a run in the ninth. Jordan Carrion led off the inning with a single, but couldn’t ever move into scoring position. After a lineout, Carrion was thrown out trying to swipe second for out #2. Colton Vincent struck out to send the game to extra innings. After throwing the eighth and ninth innings, Scolaro was back on the mound for the 10th. A leadoff walk and a single put men on the corners with no outs. Stephen Klein gave the Bulldogs the lead with a single to the opposite field. Dylan Simmons entered the game and quickly induced a 6-4-3 double play but Ledbetter’s second homer gave Samford a 7-4 lead.

Up next: FSU will travel to Mercer on Tuesday for a midweek matchup against the Bears. First pitch is at 6:00 PM. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.