They’ve been in this position before, and that’s what scares the competition.
Well, that and they’re about as hot as the beating summer sun bearing down on Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.,—the site of baseball’s annual College World Series, a place where 10th-ranked Florida State is expecting to play very soon.
The top-seeded Seminoles got it done at the plate and in the field with timely hitting and efficient defensive play last Saturday evening inside Dodd Memorial Stadium to advance to the championship game of the NCAA Norwich Regional, defeating the Oregon Ducks, 6-4.
As of press time, the Seminoles are 2-0 as the region’s No. 1 seed and wait to face the winner of the Connecticut/Oregon game.
In their second victory in as many days, six of the nine FSU hits on Saturday went for extra bases, including solo home runs off the bat of Sherman Johnson and Stephen Cardullo, while four of the six runs scored in the victory over the Ducks (39-23) came with two outs.
FSU’s ace on the mound, Sean Gilmartin, earned his eighth victory on the season for the ’Noles (44-17), and whose defense turned three double plays without an error.
“Sean did everything he could to win the game,” Gilmartin’s catcher, Rafael Lopez said. “He did everything right. He located [his pitches] when he needed to and we stuck with that change up and it worked well. Sean did a great job tonight.”
After giving up a solo shot in the first inning to Oregon’s Jack Marder, Gilmartin, who walked one and struck out eight, did not allow a runner to advance past second base before being relieved with two runners on and no outs in the eighth. The sophomore southpaw gave up three runs on 10 hits, as eight of those 10 went for singles.
“Getting ahead [of batters] was a pretty big part of the success I had tonight,” Gilmartin said. “Getting that first guy out to leadoff the inning definitely helped. I was really able to spot the fastball and was able to change speeds real well to keep guys off balanced.
“The defensive did a great job behind me. They really stepped up tonight. That’s all you can ask for.”
Johnson, Mike McGee and Devon Travis each finished the game with two hits apiece, while Lopez came through with a supportive two-out, two-run double in the fourth.
Geoff Parker and McGee—who was recently named as a third team All-American—each pitched an inning in relief as McGee worked the bottom half of the ninth to earn his 10th save of the season.
With the win, Florida State improved to 28-13 all-time when facing a team for the first time in postseason play, while moving to 18-10 on the road in the NCAA Regionals. The win was also the fourth straight by the Seminoles over a George Horton-led Oregon squad.
In their opening round contest, FSU breezed to an 11-3 victory over Central Connecticut State last Friday afternoon to improve to 37-11 all-time in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with the win over the Blue Devils.
“I thought Brian (Busch) gave us a big lift in going six full innings as it was a very good outing for him,” FSU head coach Mike Martin said. “It saved us from having to go to the bullpen.”
Busch earned his first win since his mid-April move back into the starting rotation back improving to 5-1 on the year. The sophomore southpaw gave up three runs (one earned) on five hits as he walked three and struck out six.
After giving up two walks in the first, Busch retired 10 straight Blue Devils before CCSU’s Mitch Wells led off the fifth inning with his team’s first hit of the game.
“I was basically just trying to work both sides of the plate with my fastball and throw off-speed to keep them off balanced,” Busch said. “I struggled in the seventh throwing into the right handers, which gave them another run, but luckily my defense and solid pitching out of the bullpen bailed me out.”
But Busch didn’t act alone, according to Martin.
“Certainly, there were a lot of key hits for us in today’s ball game,” Martin said. “The one [Mike] McGee got and the home run that Raffy [Lopez] hit was a surprise to everyone as this is such a big ball park, but he just corked that thing out of there. I am just glad to see these young kids play like they did today.”
FSU held the lead for all but a half inning against CCSU, who remained in striking distance until late in the game.
The Seminoles scored seven runs over the seventh and eighth innings to break open a one-run ball game.
“This is the Seminole way,” outfielder James Ramsey said. “We are going to put pressure on you and make you make outs. We are not going to lie down for any team. We are going to go hard for 27 outs.”