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FSU baseball: Noles waste opportunities in UVA series finale loss

By Kelvin Hunt

TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A general view of the Florida State Seminoles Baseball Team in the dugout during the game against the Maine Black Bears at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University on February 15, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 11th Ranked Florida State defeated the Maine Black Bears on Opening Day in a no-hitter 11 to 0. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A general view of the Florida State Seminoles Baseball Team in the dugout during the game against the Maine Black Bears at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University on February 15, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 11th Ranked Florida State defeated the Maine Black Bears on Opening Day in a no-hitter 11 to 0. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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FSU baseball (4-5, 2-4 ACC) had chances to clinch a needed series sweep over No. 18 Virginia Sunday. However, wasted opportunities sealed their fate, and the Noles took the 2-1 loss.

One of the things I wrote about in the preview was not settling for the series clinch and taking the series sweep.

However, I suppose I can’t get too greedy considering, how Pittsburgh mowed FSU down last week.

One thing that’s showed up in the UVA series was FSU’s pitchers. They pitched well enough for the series sweep, but FSU’s offense continues to struggle, leaving multiple runners on base in key situations.

Conor Grady went seven innings with nine strikeouts and zero walks. He gave up two earned runs.

UVA jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the third inning, but FSU left runners on base in the first, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.

The eighth inning, in particular, was frustrating as FSU baseball had the bases loaded with NO outs and didn’t score a single run.

One batter struck out, a runner was thrown out at the plate, and of course, another strikeout, which is par for the course with FSU batters so far this season.

If it sounds like I’m harsh but they had double-digit strikeouts (15) and only four hits in Sunday’s game. Reese Albert struck out three times to add to his high total for the series.

I know Mike Martin Jr. is supposed to be the hitting guru, but this isn’t something we can keep blaming on it being early in the season.

All teams have had to deal with the same circumstances, but the guys are not having good at-bats. It’s one thing to have a 9-10 pitch at-bat and then strikeout, but these guys are getting mowed down effortlessly.

I do want to point out the Noles were perfect in the field Sunday and only committed one error in the series. That’s a step in the right direction, and it looks like they have figured out some things with the pitching.

Now, it’s all about getting the offense on track because two runs shouldn’t be enough to beat anyone in college baseball.

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