FSU baseball surges past Illinois late after blowing large lead

FSU baseball took a crazy 13-7 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini to remain unbeaten and improve to 9-0. Cam Leiter got the start on the mound and didn't have his best stuff. He went 4.1 innings and allowed seven hits, four walks, four earned runs, and four strikeouts before giving way to Carson Dorsey. Dorsey struggled in 1.1 innings, allowing two earned runs, three walks, and three strikeouts. Ben Barrett finished the final 3.2 innings, allowing four hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. FSU got on top early, which has become customary for the Noles early this season. The Noles built a 7-0 lead through the top of the fourth inning. However, Illinois wouldn't go away quietly, scoring two runs in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth to tie the game at 7-7. The FSU offense wasted no time responding, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh, which would eventually become the winning runs. De'Amez Ross went 2-3 with three walks and two runs scored. Cameron Smith had three hits and three RBI. James Tibbs had four hits, including a home run and four RBI. Jaxson West had the huge go-ahead double down the right-field line to give the Noles the lead in the seventh. Daniel Cantu went 2-3 with an RBI. FSU scored two runs in the top of the ninth for good measure.

It was a good sign to see the FSU offense respond with those runs in the seventh inning immediately after Illinois came back to tie the game. This game was the second start Cam Leiter hasn't been as sharp, and the bullpen hasn't been too consistent all season. Nevertheless, this was the type of game FSU would have lost last year had they blown a large lead. FSU pitchers issued eight walks in the game and allowed 12 hits. They need to clean that up moving forward, as they will play Western Michigan on Sunday to close out the First Pitch Classic. The game will begin at 2 p.m. and will air on the Greenville Drive YouTube channel.