FSU baseball: UConn coach Jim Penders with high praise for Noles and 'true fans'

FSU baseball demolished the UConn Huskies 24-4 on Friday afternoon, and most fans thought FSU would easily advance past the Huskies with Jamie Arnold on the mound on Saturday afternoon. However, UConn head coach Jim Penders had his team well-prepared and gave the Noles all they could handle for 12 innings before ACC Player of the Year James Tibbs hit his third home run for the go-ahead and game-winning runs. Penders has over 700 career wins and has taken UConn to the postseason several times, and this year was their third time to the Super Regionals. The man has seen a lot of baseball, but he had tremendous praise for this FSU baseball team, several players, and the FSU fans.

"Florida State and the environment here is the best I've ever competed in, in college baseball. I heard how great the fans were before coming here...the animals...Oh Canada....and all of the incredible traditions they have here, and it lived up to its billing. We've played in hostile environments, I wouldn't call it....it was tough to play in, but the people are baseball fans, they're true fans, they appreciate effort, they appreciate good play, they appreciated the way we competed today especially." "Kudos to them for showing up yesterday in that heat and cheering on their team and then again today. It was an electric atomosphere and I'm proud of the way we competed in a really tough environment."

FSU fans were respectful of the effort the UConn players gave and provided rounds of applause on some plays and when a couple of their pitchers exited the game. It says a lot about the fans when an opposing coach can speak in this manner about the atmosphere, especially considering both games were early starts in the dead of Florida heat. Penders was complimentary of Jamie Arnold and James Tibbs. He called Arnold one of the best pitchers and Tibbs one of the best hitters he's seen in his 21 years as a head coach.

FSU fans respected the effort the UConn players gave and provided rounds of applause on some plays and when a couple of their pitchers exited the game. It says a lot about the fans when an opposing coach can speak about the atmosphere, especially considering both games were early starts in the dead of Florida heat. Penders was complimentary of Jamie Arnold and James Tibbs. He called Arnold one of the best pitchers and Tibbs one of the best hitters in his 21 years as a head coach.

Coach Penders offered no excuses and gave FSU baseball all of the credit. He even went so far as to say he got outcoached by Link Jarrett. I gave Coach Penders a hard time on social media in game one when he argued a few calls, but he was only fighting for his team when they were getting smoked. It's a credit to him for how they came out to play on Saturday when the odds were stacked against them, with Jamie Arnold and one of the best offenses in college baseball playing at home against them. Here's a hat tip to the UConn Huskies and Coach Penders.