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FSU Baseball Recap: Noles Drop Weekend Series at Virginia Tech

By Ty Ragans

May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and bat before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and bat before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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FSU baseball concluded their spring break road trip with a three game series at Virginia Tech. The Noles dropped two of three in Blacksburg.

FSU baseball is happy to see Spring Break come to an end. The Noles hit the road in the beginning of the week and it turned out to be a nightmare road trip. The two losses to Virginia Tech brought FSU’s record to 14-7 on the season, 3-3 in the ACC and 1-4 on the week.

It looked like FSU had turned things around when they cruised to a 9-2 victory in the Friday game. However, FSU would lose the following two games in incredible fashion. On Saturday, by blowing a 10-2 lead out of a weather delay and on Sunday by taking an absolute drubbing by the score of 17-0.

Friday

After two midweek losses FSU baseball limped into Blacksburg on Friday to start a three game series with Virginia Tech. For the first few innings it looked like FSU was gonna continue their slump, but Cal Raleigh was able to put the Noles in the lead with a solo home run in the 4th inning, his second of the season.

A four run sixth as well as a Quincy Nieporte grand slam in the seventh inning allowed FSU to cruise to a 9-2 victory. The grand slam was Nieporte’s third of the season, tying the FSU single season record.

Nieporte was the top offensive performer of the day going 2-4 with one home run, a run scored, and five RBI. Cal Raleigh had a nice 2-4 day with a home run of his own, three runs scored and an RBI. Freshman center fielder JC Flowers came up with his second triple of the season and picked up two RBI.

Cole Sands had a quality start on the mound for the Noles. Sands final line read 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Sands picked up the win to move to 3-1 on the season. Alec Byrd, Chase Haney, Steven Wells, and Clayton Kwiatkowski combined in relief to finish the game for FSU on their way to the 9-2 victory.

Saturday

In windy conditions in Blacksburg, FSU baseball dropped a high scoring game in which they had an eight run lead at one point. A long and wild game ended with a 13-12 FSU loss on Saturday.

It wasn’t your typical first inning for FSU starting pitcher Tyler Holton who is off to an incredible start in 2017. Holton started the game by conceding two runs to Virginia Tech in the bottom of the first. However, Holton settled in and looked more like himself for the remainder of his outing.

Unfortunately, Holton’s outing was cut short as FSU was up by a score of 10-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning when the game was delayed due to a lightning strike. Holton’s final line was 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, K.

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After the delay Holton was relieved by Jim Voyles who surrendered a three run home run. The Hokies would add two more runs, cutting the lead to 10-7. Will Zirzow came in to pitch the sixth inning and it was a difficult outing for the Junior. Zirzow lasted just .2 innings and gave up four runs, but only two of them were earned. The four runs gave VT an 11-10 lead.

Closer Drew Carlton took the mound for the eighth inning and allowed VT to tack on two insurance runs on two hits to bring the score to 13-10. The insurance runs proved important as FSU made a run at a comeback with two runs in the top of the 9th but ultimately it was not enough and the Noles lost 13-12.

Offense wasn’t the issue for FSU on Saturday as they scored 13 runs on 11 hits. Incredibly enough, Quincy Nieporte hit his second grand slam in as many days and his fourth of the season for a new FSU single season record. The home run was Nieporte’s sixth and his six RBI on the day has his season total at a whopping 34.

Nieporte wasn’t the only Nole to play the long ball on Saturday. Dylan Busby and Rhett Aplin both went yard for their third home runs of the season. Nieporte, Aplin, and Busby all had multi-hit days with Aplin racking up three hits and three RBI.

It was encouraging to see FSU swing the bat well, but it’s hard to feel great about anything after such a collapse leading to a loss.

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Sunday

Sunday’s game was the only game of the weekend that was available to stream, and that was unfortunate. If you decided to tune in, I hope you didn’t let your children watch, because it was absolute R rated blood bath.

FSU baseball gave up 17 hits to Virginia Tech with 17 runs to match it on their way to an embarrassing 17-0 drubbing.

Freshman lefty Drew Parrish was on the mound for FSU on Sunday and got off to a fine start in the first five innings, only giving up one run while recording seven strikeouts. But the sixth inning turned into an avalanche that saw Virginia Tech bat around the order to score 10 runs on seven hits, four walks, and a hit by pitch. Grant Stewart relieved Parrish and failed to record an out while surrendering two earned runs. Will Zirzow finished the inning for FSU.

The seventh inning wasn’t much different from the sixth. The Hokies batted around again, this time scoring six runs in the process to stretch their lead out to 17-0. It was a rough inning for reliever Alec Byrd who gave up six runs on five hits and two walks.

As you can see from the score, FSU didn’t have much success at the plate, but Rhett Aplin had another nice day at the plate picking up three of the Noles five hits.

In a week that FSU baseball entered as the top ranked team in the country, they went 1-4, got shut out twice, blew an eight run lead, and lost a game by 17 runs. Ouch. The 1-4 week brought FSU to 14-7 on the season and 3-3 in the ACC. It’s clear this team has some work to do if they want to seriously compete in the post season.

The imminent returns of Jackson Lueck and Drew Mendoza should give the Noles lineup a boost. Luckily FSU has time to figure things out, starting with a home game this Tuesday against Jacksonville. Check in Tuesday for our game preview.

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