FSU Baseball Preview: Noles Meet Auburn in Winner Take All Regional Finale

The 2017 Tallahassee Regional has been a wild one for FSU baseball. On Monday the Noles face Auburn for the right to play in a Super Regional.

FSU baseball entered the Tallahassee regional smoking hot. However, the Noles ran into a hiccup when they fell 3-1 to Tennessee Tech in their opening game. Despite the opening loss, FSU has battled back to force a winner take all game Monday against Auburn.

How We Got Here

FSU baseball just seemed out of sorts against Tennessee Tech on Friday night. And I must admit, the Golden Eagles are a much more complete team than I expected them to be. With TTU entering the game with a team ERA over 5, I expected holding them to three runs would be enough for FSU but the Noles were only able to put up one run of their own.

Drew Parrish was lights out in a career night. The freshman lefty pitched 7.1 innings allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out 12 and walking just one. FSU had the lead when Parrish left the game in the 8th but TTU would get to Carlton to win game one 3-1.

FSU faced UCF in the losers bracket in game two, and it was all about Tyler Holton. Holton pitched a complete game, 6 h, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K’s, the guy is incredible.

FSU faced a tough TTU team again on Sunday in an elimination game. The game was delayed for about two hours in the middle of the 2nd inning due to weather. Clutch hitting late in the game combined with good bullpen work kept FSU alive for the 5-3 win.

FSU and Auburn met just 90 minutes later with FSU facing elimination and Auburn looking to clinch a Super Regional birth. This was truly one of the wildest baseball games I’ve seen. Auburn took the lead in the 1st due to an FSU error, but the Noles answered. In the 2nd inning Dylan Busby busted the game open with a three run rocket shot to left to make the score 6-2. Auburn Chipped away at the lead while the FSU bats were stagnant.

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Auburn was down 6-4 in the top of the 9th when they began to rally, down to their last strike and with the bases loaded, Auburn came up with a big base hit to take the 7-6 lead and it looked like the Seminole season was over. FSU was also down to their last strike with Taylor Walls on first base when Busby drilled a triple off the wall in deep center to score Walls and tie the game.

The affair would then head to extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th FSU worked the bases loaded with two outs but JC Flowers was facing an 0-2 count, then he was hit by a pitch for the unconventional walk off 8-7 victory, what a game.

Game Seven

FSU baseball and Auburn will face off one last time in a winner-take-all game for a birth in a super regional. FSU’s pitching is thin as they have already played four games this weekend. Auburn has played one less game but they are facing the same sort of pitching crisis as FSU.

I believe Monday’s game should be a slug fest, and I will take FSU’s bats over Auburn’s. Dylan Busby looks to be finding his form from the ACC tournament and I do believe the way game six ended will give the Noles the mental edge.

Next: 3 Reasons FSU Baseball Can Win Tallahassee Regional

Will Zirzow is likely to start for FSU and it will be interesting to see where they go from there. The game is at 7 PM, the Noles will need a raucous crowd at Howser so get to the park if you can. A TV designation has not been made at this time for the game but the FSU baseball twitter account should have that information at some point on Monday.