Florida State Baseball Bats Explode in Rout of Miami

After battling for 17 innings before emerging with the win on Friday night, no one was sure how the Florida State Baseball team would respond. The answer became clear early in Saturday’s game as FSU ran away with game 2 of the weekend series against the Hurricanes, obliterating Miami by a score of 15-5.

In the first inning, Miami looked poised to bounce back from Friday’s loss as they loaded the bases with no outs. However, Mike Compton pulled off the near-impossible by striking out 3 consecutive batters to escape from the jam with no damage done. Compton was not as successful in the next inning as he allowed Miami to score first and the Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead into the third inning.

Despite the early deficit, Florida State responded well in the third inning, scoring 5 runs on 4 hits. The highlight of the inning was the bases-loaded double by Dylan Busby that bounced out of the left fielder’s glove when he collided with the wall, emptying the bases and opening up a 5-2 lead.

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After a Taylor Walls groundout to lead off the fourth inning, FSU went on a run that started with a home run by Danny De La Calle, his second in as many games, and continued as 8 straight Seminole batters reached base, 7 by hit and 1 by error. When all was said and done, Florida State added 7 more runs in the fourth inning, extending the lead to 12-2.

The Seminoles added 3 more runs in the fifth inning and after holding a 15-2 lead through 4.5 innings, the rest of the game seemed like clockwork. Miami got one run back in the fifth and two more in the ninth but were unable to muster nearly enough offense to make the game competitive again. By the start of the sixth inning, 6 of the 9 players in the starting lineup for FSU were replaced by backups.

Mike Compton, who has now appeared as the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starter for the Seminoles this season, struggled a bit early but settled in nicely after the first two innings. Compton nearly went the distance, throwing eight full innings and allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 11 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. He improved his record on the season to 2-1 with the win.

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The FSU lineup showed how balanced they can be in the blowout as 8 out of the 9 ‘Noles in the starting lineup earned a hit. Despite the equal distribution of hits, all of the RBIs came from just 5 Florida State batters. Chris Marconcini and Busby both went 2-4 with 4 RBIs each, Quincy Nieporte knocked in 3 runs on 2 hits, and Taylor Walls/De La Calle plated 1 run each.

One of the major differences from the stretch of offensive ineptitude that FSU demonstrated just a few weeks ago is the success that the ‘Noles have found with runners on base in recent games. In the win on Saturday, Florida State went 11-24 (.458) with runners on base and 9-13 (.692) with runners in scoring position.

With Saturday’s win, the Seminoles take the weekend series over Miami (Miami last won a series against Florida State in 2009) with one more game left to play on Sunday at 1 PM. Projected starter for FSU is Alec Carlton.