FSU baseball fans react to controversial call in MCWS game one loss against Tennessee

FSU baseball has a game one win in the MCWS against No. 1 Tennessee in its sights with an 11-8 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. However, a lead-off triple and sacrifice fly cut the lead to 11-9 with one out as Link Jarrett replaced Conner Whittaker with Brennen Oxford. A walk to the first batter and pop out to the second batter put FSU in a great spot to secure the win. However, a double and three consecutive singles tied the game after a questionable check swing call would have ended the game with an FSU win. Tennessee got another two-out hit after Connor Hults entered the game to walk off the Noles with a 12-11 victory. Was it a bad call? Absolutely, but FSU had a gazillion chances to avoid that situation. The difference in the game came in the second inning. Jaxson West dropped the ball on the play at the plate and Jamie Arnold's throwing error gave Tennessee two runs(with two outs). The game would have been 9-2 after four innings, which meant Jamie Arnold probably pitches another inning, three fewer outs the bullpen has to worry about. I wrote in the preview, the difference in the game would be the small things:

"It's the small things like a lead-off walk, error, or failure to get a score with a runner on third base with fewer than two outs that could prove costly."   

Fan Reactions

All came into play in Friday night's game. Yes, it was a poor call, but FSU did itself NO favors against the best offense in the nation. FSU's offense did more than enough to win the game and should have gone into the ninth inning with an 11-6 lead at worst. We have known the FSU bullpen was a liability since April, and why FSU has to play clean baseball to give them the largest margin of error possible. They failed to do that Friday night, and it cost them. FSU will attempt to move through the loser's bracket when they take on Virginia on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Noles defeated Virginia their lone matchup which took place in ACC Tournament.