No. 11 FSU Baseball Forces Rubber Match

Florida State and Virginia enjoyed weather conditions much more on par with spring when they squared off an hour after noon on Saturday. That said, the Cavaliers sprung into action early in the contest with three first inning hits that would result in two UVA runs.

Virginia saw Pavin Smith double to center for the first of the two runs. This was followed by a single from senior Kenny Towns that scored Smith and gave UVA the early 2-0 lead. The threat would end when right-handed pitcher Drew Carlton saw UVA batter Ernie Clement fly out to end the first inning.

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Offensively, all remained quiet until the sixth inning. Following a streak of nine straight batters retired by UVA’s Connor Jones, senior Josh Delph reached first base after the first out of the fifth inning. Some batters later catcher Danny De La Calle registered the first hit of the game for FSU. This hit would also load the bases with Taylor Walls at the plate for the ‘Noles. Jones continued to struggle in the fifth as he allowed Walls to walk. The bases-loaded walk scored a runner and cut the deficit to one for Florida State with John Sansone stepping up to the plate.

It would only take Sansone one swing of the bat to send the baseball clear over the fence and add four more runs to the scoreboard with the grand slam. The hit would go down as the junior’s first career grand slam. It would also give FSU its first lead of the game by a score of 5-2. To note, the grand slam was also the first home run given up by Connor Jones this season through 32 innings of pitching. Jones was promptly pulled out of the game following the home run. After the pitching change, Dylan Busby’s sac fly would add the final run of the top of the fifth inning and extend the ‘Noles lead to 6-2.

The ‘Noles weren’t finished quite yet as the offense seemingly picked up where it left off in the top of the sixth inning. FSU’s DJ Stewart ripped the baseball into the middle of the field with two outs to score Sansone and Truluck following a sequence of events that involved some erratic pitching by UVA’s David Rosenberger. The two-out single would give Florida State the 8-3 advantage in the sixth inning.

The seventh inning saw a chain of events that involved two Mike Martin calls to the bullpen and four walks which eventually tied the game 8-8. The ‘Noles finally got out of the jam after a ground out by UVA’s Christian Lowry.

With the score even, DJ Stewart stepped up to the plate with two away for FSU. Looking at a 3-1 count Stewart drilled into the ball and sent it over the fence for FSU’s second home run of the baseball game. The homer gave the ‘Noles the 9-8 edge in the top of the eighth.

It wouldn’t take long for the Cavaliers to respond. Following a fielding error by Sansone, Virginia’s Kenny Towns doubled down the left field line to tie the game up at nine. The tie would last briefly as a sacrifice fly would score Pavin Smith and give the Cavaliers the 10-9 advantage. The threat ended following a strikeout of Kevin Doherty.

FSU entered the top of the ninth inning with its back against the wall and responded with resilience. Both Dylan Busby and Danny De La Calle saw home runs leave the ballpark in the top of the ninth in a valiant effort to rally back from the 10-9 deficit. These pair of homers gave Florida State the decisive 12-10 lead, and pushed the ‘Noles past the Cavaliers despite three FSU errors in the game.

The ‘Noles will be back in action again on Sunday for the series finale with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. at Davenport Field in Charlottesville, Virginia. Following game three, FSU will be back in action again on March 25th for its midweek game at home against Alabama State.

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