The Florida State Seminoles ran into an offensive buzzsaw in their final midweek matchup of the regular season.
The tired FSU bullpen gave up six home runs against the Stetson Hatters in Tuesday’s 10-5 loss. The recent injuries and usage of bullpen arms have continued to take a toll on Florida State’s final regular season record, as the Seminoles are 5-5 over their last 10 games.
Now, Florida State hosts the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in their final regular season series.
The Yellow Jackets (30-19, 14-13) enter Tallahassee off a big series win over a top-10 Duke Blue Devils team. Tech captured two out of three in a run-filled series. The teams combined for 57 runs in the three-game tilt. However, like Florida State, the Jackets are just 5-5 over their last 10.
- Florida State drops rain-delayed regular season finale
Game Recap: Florida State went through an incredible week-long journey to make their series at Pittsburgh, play on the road in Orlando, and get ready for their final regular season of the year. The physical and emotional miles would add up to any team, and as the ‘Noles started the second game of their doubleheader, the energy levels took their toll.
Andrew Armstrong started game three, but GT scored the first run for the second time today as a walk, stolen base, and single, which gave the Yellow Jackets an early 1-0. It went from bad to worse for FSU as when the top of the order went 1-2-3, Georgia Tech finally broke through in the second. Andrew Armstrong could not buy a strike, as two hits and a walk loaded the bases. With two outs, GT hit a bases-clearing double with a ball down the line that had been the Max Williams specialty. After another run came in with one out in the third, the ‘Noles trailed 5-0, facing a bases-loaded situation. Jarrett tabbed John Abraham as the man to keep FSU alive and he did just that. He induced a ground ball to his first batter and kept his team within arm’s length.
The offense continued to sputter before the fourth inning, as the first nine hitters went down in order, with half of them being in strikeouts. As Abraham settled the game down on the mound, Florida State responded.
Max Williams needed just one pitch to put FSU on the board as he hit a solo shot. Three straight walks loaded the bases and two singles brought home three runs with still nobody out. The frame calmed down, but not before a Cal Fisher brought in the tying run with a sac fly, and the Seminoles batted around. The momentum stayed with them as James Tibbs hit an opposite-field no-doubt blast to give FSU a 6-5 lead after smoking a ball over 400 feet.
John Abraham continued to be nails in the sixth after he went 3 2/3 innings pitched without giving up a hit or a run. The Seminoles threatened in the bottom of the sixth with two on and two out but could not cash in.
In the ensuing inning, GT tied the game on a freak play that started with an error from Cam Smith. Hults had sent down the first two men of the inning, but a walk started a rally for the Yellow Jackets. After the Jackets tied it up, Jaime throws out the runner at 2nd to end the frame.
FSU quickly retook the lead when Smith singled to start the 7th, and then moved to second on a Tibbs groundout. Smith then took third base on a balk and was brought home on a Dinges hit beating out the throw to the plate.
Ferrer is then walked and Cantu was HBP putting runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. At this point the game is suspended.
After a 21 hour suspension, the game resumed with Tech scoring 3 runs on a pair of home runs to take back the lead, 9-7 in the top of the eighth inning.
FSU answered with 3 runs of their own after Cal Fisher led off with a single then the next two batters were walked. Fisher then scored on a wild pitch, Duncan scored on a J. Williams sacrifice fly, and Smith scored on a Ferrer single.
The Yellow Jackets who then plated two runs, on a Seminole throwing error and a sac fly, in the top of the 9th. The Seminoles were able to get a runner on base, but were ultimately unable to get the tying run across and dropping their regular season finale.
The Seminoles finishes the regular season with a 39-14 overall record, and 17-12 in the ACC. FSU’s 39 wins are the most in the regular season since 2018, when FSU entered the ACC Tournament 39-17. FSU has 16 more wins than 2023, the largest turnaround in the country.
Depending on the winner of tonights Virginia-Virginia Tech game, FSU will the #4 or #5 seed in the ACC Tournament which begins on Tuesday. The team will find out when their first and second games of the tournament will be played later today.
- Florida State explodes for an eight-run third to take the first game of the doubleheader.
Game recap: Florida State wanted to send their seniors out with a bang.
As FSU moved their game and ceremony to Friday afternoon, the Seminoles knew that the best way to pay their respects was to dispatch the Yellow Jackets and take the series.
An early offensive barrage did just that.
Carson Dorsey took the mound for Link Jarrett, who needed outs/ length from the lefty with two games in one day. It looked rocky early on as he allowed a run, two base hits, and a walk in the first, but the offense had his back. Cam Smith and James Tibbs reached base with a double and a walk, which set the table for Marco Dinges to lace a single back up the middle, bringing Smith in to score. The teams stayed tied at two through the second and the top of the third as Dorsey battled traffic on the bases before FSU blew the game open in the bottom half.
With two hits in two at-bats, Smith and Dinges stood on base for Jamie Ferrer with one out in the third. The LF did not look like himself to start the weekend after undergoing imaging on his hand Wednesday, but he righted his wrongs with one swing of the bat. Ferrer uncorked a home run to left field, which gave FSU a 4-1 lead. He knew he got it as soon as he hit it and sent a bat flip a mile high in the air, which the umpire gave him a warning for.
Florida State’s damage did not end there, as the 6-9 hitters walked or recorded a hit, extending the Seminole advantage to four and bringing Max Williams to the plate with the bases loaded. The CF lined a double down to the wall right, a similar XBH from last night, and cleared the bases. Florida State brought 12 men in the bottom of the third they led 8-1 at the end of three. The ‘Noles struggled yesterday hitting with RISP but fixed their issues this afternoon, finishing 8-16 in that category.
Florida State came back to Earth in the middle innings as Dorsey needed to battle to keep the Yellow Jackets from coming back, and the bats fell silent. The lefty allowed two runners to reach base in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, but only two runs came across with all of the action. He threw a career-high 112 pitches and walked four batters but induced multiple double plays with five strikeouts to keep GT at bay.
Seven straight Seminoles were retired before James Tibbs beat the shift in the bottom half of the sixth. FSU did not produce competitive at-bats when the lineup slumped, making their inability to recognize secondary pitches a worthy concern even as the bats put together their best game of the week.
Conner Whittaker came in for Dorsey in the seventh and struggled early, allowing his first two base runners, but a double play and a swinging bunt back to the pitcher ended the threat. FSU created substantial separation in the bottom half as the 7-8-9 hitters stayed hot at the plate. Lodise and Holbrook stood on first and second before Fisher hit in his middle infield buddy. A few batters later, Smith smashed a single to center, which extended the Seminole lead to eight. Ferrer had a chance to end the game with the bases loaded and two outs but popped out to short as Link Jarrett’s team held an 11-3 advantage.
Whittaker came out for the eighth and recorded two strikeouts before giving up a two-out double. While he and Dorsey combined to limit Georgia Tech to only three runs, FSU did not put together a 1-2-3 frame the entire game.
Noah Short threw three strikeouts in the ninth as he closed it out on Senior Day. The Seminoles received contributions up and down the lineup, but the 2-3-4 hitters cleaned up, hitting 7-13 with three RBIs combined between them. FSU clinched the series and remained in the hunt for a top-four seed at the ACC tournament, a top-eight national seed, and a chance at a sweep in 45 minutes.
- Florida State pulls away from Georgia Tech late on Thursday for 8-3 victory.
Game recap: Not all home games are created equal.
Florida State took on Georgia Tech Thursday night for their last regular season series, but this weekend brought extra emotions. After storms that swept through Tallahassee last Friday, Link Jarrett felt fortunate to play tonight. Work crews put in around-the-clock hours to get Dick Howser ready for action after the fence and foul pole in right came crashing down. With a new wall, Florida State received the all-clear, and Jamie Arnold toed the rubber trying to match his 17-strikeout performance from last weekend.
The lefty picked up right where he left off to begin the first, retiring the first three batters he faced and running his fastball up to 97. Unfortunately, the FSU hitters looked like the same lineup that played against Pitt. The first six Seminole batters went down in order due to poor secondary pitch recognition, an issue Link Jarrett highlighted during his weekly press conference.
After Arnold allowed base runners in both the second and the third, Alex Lodise broke the tie with a full-count solo shot to dead center to give FSU a 1-0. He brought in the first runs in an Arnold start in 12.0 innings pitched.
However, the lead would be short-lived as the Seminole ace allowed three hits in the top of the fourth, including a two-RBI single. Arnold battled throughout his entire start, allowing 11 knocks, but the damage could have been worse without stellar defensive play. To get out of the inning in the fourth, the Seminoles completed a 6-4-3 double play. Lodise played exceptionally as the number six in the field, turning two multiple times in the evening. Jaxson West caught one of his best games behind the plate as he blocked breaking balls in front of him all night.
Florida State responded immediately at the bottom of the frame as Smith, Tibbs, and Dinges each reached base to load the bases with no one out. The usually clutch Jamie Ferrer came up to bat but grounded into a double play that brought Smith into score. Daniel Cantu popped out to left as the ‘Noles could only push one run across. The game would not stay tied for long as in the ensuing inning, Drew Faurot hit his fifth home run of the season as he golfed a long ball out to right that would have got out with a 30-foot fence as he gave FSU a 3-2 lead.
After Arnold recorded his fifth strikeout with a runner on third and two outs, the bats tried to distance themselves and the Yellow Jackets in the sixth. Cam Smith led off the inning with an opposite-field blast for FSU’s third long ball. Tibbs and Dinges each reached base on a free pass and advanced into scoring position. Daniel Cantu bunted home FSU’s right fielder on a safety squeeze to give Florida State a 5-2 advantage.
During the game, FSU announced they would play two games tomorrow as more inclement weather will enter the area on Saturday. With Link Jarrett forced to throw two bullpen games tomorrow, essentially, he squeezed every drop of juice out of Arnold. The Tampa native threw a season-high 109 pitches but only recorded one out in the seventh as the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases and scored a run.
Arnold’s line: 6 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 BB, 11 H, 6 Ks
Jarrett’s reliever of choice went to Brennen Oxford, who came into the game facing quite a mess. However, he was nails when needed by getting two straight outs and preserving the Seminole lead.
FSU had a chance in the bottom half to extend its lead and put the game out of reach. Williams, Smith, and an intentionally walked TIbbs loaded the bases with two outs for Marco Dinges, who has the most grand slams on the roster. Georgia Tech knew that, as they only threw the DH breaking balls, and he did not adjust, going down on strikes in four pitches.
Brennen Oxford faced more drama in the eighth as he faced two runners on with two outs but recorded a punch out that kept GT at arm’s length. FSU would give him more insurance in the bottom of the inning as the Yellow Jackets started to lose their composure recording an error and a wild pitch in two pitches that brought DeAmez Ross into score. A couple of batters later, Max Williams hit a ball down the line in right for a two-RBI, two-out double as FSU pushed further out in front, leading 8-3.
Brennen Oxford shut the door as he threw 2 2/3 IP of no-run baseball. The Noles did not play perfectly by any stretch, hitting just 2-10 with nine strikeouts. Some of their at-bats continued to be uncompetitive, especially when GT threw off-speed. However, they won the deceive moments of the game, and a win like this could help get them back on track for a long day tomorrow.
