FSU baseball: Offense stays hot and bullpen rebounds to shutdown Florida Gators

FSU baseball (20-3, 3-3 ACC) took its second win of the season over the rival Florida Gators with a 14-3 eight-inning win on Tuesday night to win the Sunshine Showdown Series. It was an excellent rebound performance after the debacle against Clemson over the weekend. The FSU offense wasted no time scoring three runs in the top of the first inning on a bases-loaded double by Daniel Cantu. However, Florida answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame on a routine fly ball that the wind blew over the wall for a home run. FSU responded with runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to build a 14-3 lead.

Andrew Armstrong was the starter on the mound and pitched one inning, but the story of the game was the FSU bullpen. Joe Charles and John Abraham pitched well in relief, allowing two walks, nine strikeouts, and one hit in 5.1 innings. The latter gave away to Brendan Oxford with one out in the bottom of the seventh with runners on first and second base. Oxford struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam. Oxford pitched the eighth inning to end the game via a 10-run rule. FSU pitchers only allowed three hits, three walks, and 13 strikeouts. It was a totally different-looking bullpen than what we saw at Clemson.

Daniel Cantu had a monster game, going 3-4 with five RBI on two doubles and a home run. He also made a couple of nice defensive plays to tag runners out at first on errant throws. Jaxson West raked, going 3-4, scoring two runs. Cam Smith went 2-5 with an RBI. James Tibbs went 3-4 with an RBI, and Drew Faurot went 2-5 with five RBI. Faurot's two hits were home runs. FSU had 15 hits and only struck out three times and several hard-hit balls that went for outs. FSU will host Louisville in a three-game series beginning on Thursday.