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FSU Baseball Recap: Noles Drop Two of Three to Virginia

By Ty Ragans

Apr 10, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of baseball gloves on the dugout railing prior to a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of baseball gloves on the dugout railing prior to a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /
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FSU baseball was able to win game one of their weekend series against Virginia. However, the Noles lost games two and three to drop the series.

FSU baseball just can’t seem to get over the hump in 2017. The Noles were hoping for a big series victory at home against number fourteen Virginia this weekend. FSU put themselves in good shape by taking the first game by a score of 6-4 on Friday. However, the Noles would get blanked 8-0 on Saturday and would fall to the Cavaliers 7-5 on Sunday to drop the series.

The 1-2 weekend brings FSU’s overall record to 27-18. Friday’s win brought FSU’s conference record over .500 at 11-10 but the two subsequent losses have them back below that mark at 11-12. The Noles had an outside chance at hosting a regional if they could have made a late season run, but this series loss all but guarantees they’ll be hitting the road in the post season.

Friday

FSU baseball wasted no time in Friday’s series opener against Virginia. Dylan Busby continued to swing a hot bat when he launched a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. The very next batter, Jackson Lueck, followed Busby with a blast of his own to make it 2-0. Lueck would then leave the game due to illness.

Virginia would put up a three spot in the top of the fourth inning to take the lead 3-2 and then one more in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 4-2. In the bottom of the frame the Noles would tie the game on a Taylor Walls RBI double and a Dylan Busby RBI ground out.

In the bottom of the 6th, FSU struck again with the long ball. This time it was a monster shot from freshman Drew Mendoza, his first at Dick Howser Stadium. The Noles bullpen would preserve the lead via a Drew Carlton save to seal the 6-4 victory.

Cole Sands was the starting pitcher with a line of 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K’s. Chase Haney was the winning pitcher, bringing his record to 2-2 on the season.

The full box score for Friday’s game can be found here.

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Saturday

Saturday was just one of those days for FSU baseball. Tyler Holton didn’t have his best stuff on the mound and Virginia’s freshman pitcher Noah Murdock dominated the Noles. The final score was 8-0 and FSU was outhit 16-2 on the day.

Holton had a line of 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Pure speculation on my end but it seems as if Holton was dealing with a little bit of fatigue on Saturday. It would be nice if FSU could get Holton some rest, but that might not be possible now that they are playing four games with Pacific next weekend.

FSU used six different pitchers to get through the final five innings. Saturday will be a day the Noles will want to forget, but if you want to see the full box score, it can be found here.

Sunday

The start to game three felt like just a continuation of game two. Andrew Karp got his first weekend start of the season and was unable to record an out. The Noles were lucky to be down just 4-0 after the opening inning.

Virginia would tack on runs in the second and third to extend their lead to 6-0 and it was looking like FSU might be on their way to getting blown out for the second straight day.

In the fourth inning FSU showed some fight when Dylan Busby and Drew Mendoza came up with big home runs to cut the lead to 6-3. UVA would add a run in the top of the sixth to make it 7-3. In the bottom of the frame Quincy Nieporte made things interesting with a two run homer to cut the lead to 7-5. Unfortunately for the Noles that would be the last of the scoring.

All things considered, the Noles bullpen had a nice performance. Since Karp was unable to record an out, the bullpen pitched virtually the entire game.

With finals being this week, FSU will not play any mid week games. Check in on Friday for our preview of the four game series against Pacific.

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