Three up, three down: FSU splits doubleheader with Miami

Tallahassee, FL - The Florida State Seminoles hosted the Miami Hurricanes for a doubleheader on Saturday. The pair of games were huge for ACC rankings, the regional selection committee, and state bragging rights. The heated rivalry ended up in a split with Miami taking game one, 8-2 and the Seminoles winning game two, 6-4.

The Seminoles started off the scoring in game one with Jordan Carrion reaching base on a single up the middle. Carrion later scored on an errant throw on his steal attempt of third. After a 1-2-3 first inning for Parker Messick, the Hurricanes struck in the second. Messick would allow two of the first three batters to reach before Ariel Garcia crushed a fastball over the fence for a 3-1 lead. Miami recorded their fourth run of the game in the fourth inning off a pair of hits.

The Hurricanes chased Messick in the sixth after a walk and a single. Dylan Simmons relieved and struck out the first batter he faced before allowing Miami’s fifth run of the game off a single. The Seminoles were able to add a run of their own in the bottom of the inning off a Logan Lacey ground out to bring the score to 5-2. The Hurricanes put the game out of reach in the seventh with a Yohandy Morales two-run homer. Miami tacked on an eighth run before Andrew Armstrong stopped the bleeding. The ‘Noles went quietly over the next few innings and dropped game one 8-2.

Game Thread

Box Score

Game two started off the same for Florida State as they jumped out to a 1-0 run in the first inning. Tyler Martin was hit by a pitch, Carrion singled, Reese Albert walked and then Miami’s starting pitcher Karson Ligon balked in Martin. Bryce Hubbart cruised through the first three innings, fanning five ‘Canes. The Seminoles broke the game open in the third inning with a four-spot. Martin again got the inning rolling, this time with a single. Carrion then smoked a pitch over the left field fence to extend the lead to 3-0.

The Hurricane defense then unraveled. Albert walked and then scored off a Brett Roberts double to left on what could have easily been called an error on the center fielder. Alex Toral picked up an RBI single next and then Jackson Greene reached on another Miami error. The inning would finally end with a Colton Vincent strike out. The Hurricanes picked up their first hit of the game in the fourth inning, a double to right center. Hubbart struck out the next ‘Cane before hitting the following batter. With two outs, Miami’s Dominic Pitelli roped a ball to the warning track that was caught in spectacular fashion by Albert.

Hubbart ran into trouble in the fifth. He would strike out the first batter he faced before walking Dorian Gonzalez. Hubbart advanced Gonzalez on a wild pitch before picking up a second strike out in the frame. CJ Kayfus then drove in Gonzales with a single to right. Hubbart followed with his third strike out of the inning but Vincent was crossed up on the pitch, dropped it and then short-hopped the throw to first which Toral could not handle. Miami would follow with back-to-back singles which scored two more runs with a third runner thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

FSU fought back for their sixth run of the game in the fifth inning after two straight singles from Albert and Roberts, the latter advancing Albert to third. Toral scored Albert with a sac fly to left. Wyatt Crowell started the sixth and did his best Hubbart impression striking out two in the inning. FSU wasted a golden opportunity in the sixth as Martin led off with a bloop to center which was misplayed by the center fielder, resulting in a double. While Miami was regrouping, Martin noticed time had not been called and took third. The next three FSU batters all struck out.

In the seventh, Crowell allowed two infield hits and beaned a ‘Cane to load the bases. A wild pitch scored one before Crowell settled down and K’d the next two batters. Jaime Ferrer made a fly to right field interesting but reeled it in to keep the damage to one. FSU once again placed runners on first and second in the seventh, this time with only one out. The next two Seminoles batters again were unable to extend the lead. Crowell was back on the mound in the eighth with a clean 1-2-3 inning. It was Martin again to lead off the eight inning for FSU, he led off with a walk and stole another base. Carrion then battled hard for a full count walk before Logan Lacey pinch hit for Tibbs and laid down a sacrifice bunt. Ferrer picked up the third walk of the inning to load the bases for FSU with just one out and again FSU was unable to bring any runners home. It would not be a Florida State/Miami battle without late inning drama. Crowell stayed on the mound in the ninth and fanned the first batter but Vincent allowed the ball to skip to the backstop. The next at-bat may have been the biggest of the game and Crowell rose to the occasion. The sophomore induced a double play ball before a final groundout to give FSU the win.

Box Score

Three up

Tyler Martin sets the table

Martin did not start in game one because of the lefty on the mound but did pitch hit for a single in the ninth. Martin led-off game two and reached base in all five at-bats. The redshirt sophomore has now reached base in 19 straight games. On the base path, he advanced on a wild pitch that led to a throwing error, scored on a balk, and took advantage of Miami’s mistakes. Martin is doing exactly what FSU needs in a lead-off hitter.

Hubbart and Crowell carry game two

Bryce Hubbart had Miami’s batters guessing all night. Hubs fanned 10 ‘Canes with four of those being of the backward persuasion. After the offensive performance in game one by the Hurricanes, Hubbart’s line of 5.0 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 10K, 2 BB was a shot in the arm for the Seminoles. Wyatt Crowell followed Hubbart with a huge four innings. He would allow a run on two infield singles, a HBP and a wild pitch but then sit down sixHurricanes in a row and record seven strikeouts to preserve the victory.

Brett Roberts is climbing

The Tennessee Tech transfer recorded a combined five hits over the two games. Over the last month, Roberts has lifted his average nearly 40 points and is closing in on a .300 average. Among Roberts, Carrion, and Martin — FSU has three batters heating up at the same time. It will be interesting to see how Coach Mike Martin Jr. assembles his line up to end the season.

Three down

Too many runners left on base

The bats in game one could not execute on their opportunities. With runners in scoring position, FSU was 0-6 in game one. The Seminoles only picked up two hits in 14 chances with any runner on base. In the second game, FSU was able to score runs but it was more of the same with runners on base. The Seminoles were 1-15 with runners on second or third in game two. That’s 1-21 on the day with runners in scoring position. FSU’s offense has to find a way to produce in the key moments of the game.

Messick lacked the punch-out

The redshirt sophomore entered this game leading the nation with 128 K’s but would fail to reach his normal double-digits strikeout total against Miami. Messick fanned four in 5.1 innings but the stat that stands out is that the Hurricanes recorded seven hits against him with two strikes. Big Park is a bulldog on the mound but lacked the bite on his pitches today to shut down Miami. One of Messick’s best traits is his ability to finish off batters but in what could very well be his last start in Dick Howser he couldn’t seem to find that magic.

Mr. Tibbs wears the Sombrero

It was not the freshman’s day against Miami. Tibbs fanned twice in game one before picking up four strikeouts in game two. The Hurricanes scouted Tibbs well as they fed him a healthy diet of off-speed pitches for strikes and fast balls off the plate.

Up next: FSU and Miami will play the rubber match tomorrow at noon.