The scoreboard will say that No. 8 national seed Florida State baseball dominated UCF,12-4, in the Tallahassee Regional finals Sunday of the NCAA baseball Tournament.
It didn't look that way in the beginning.
"I know the score of this game when you just look at it probably doesn't reflect the difficulty of that game,” FSU coach Link Jarrett said, “That's a really good team, and Rich has done a fantastic job with this.”
FSU's momentum came halfway through the bottom fifth when it produced nine runs. Those nine runs would be just enough for the Seminoles to clinch their first regional title since 2019.
“Clearly, the game, and a lot of games revolve around the big inning," Jarrett said. "There was nothing going on until the fifth inning for us, and their arms just completely held us in check."
With the win, FSU will host a Super Regional this weekend against the Oklahoma Regional winner.
No. 9 Oklahoma and UConn meet Monday in a winner-take-all game. Facing elimination, the Sooners beat the Huskies 6-4 Sunday.
The Seminoles 18 Super Regional appearances are the most all-time.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday's win.
Defense gives FSU baseball chances with shutout innings
UCF's defense matched well against FSU's early in the game. While it was the ninth start for Conner Whittaker on the mound, it was Tyler Kozera's first career start for UCF.
Whittaker was off to a shaky start after the first inning when he allowed a two-run homer by Jack Zyska.
Both teams were exchanging zero runs for the next four innings. FSU made a couple of highlighted defense plays along the way.
In the third inning, with two outs left, shortstop Alex Lodise made a long-range throw to first basem*n Daniel Cantu to get one runner out to retire the inning.
Infielder Drew Faurot also made a web gem play on a diving catch on a line drive to start the eighth inning.
“ There were a couple of things obviously that stood out there,” Jarrett said. “I thought the athleticism overcame some of the things that weren't as clean fundamentally.”
FSU's hitting showed up when it needed
Better late than never.
The Seminoles were shut out in the first four innings. FSU had opportunities when the runners were in scoring position but would be left on base.
Once UCF coach Rich Wallace went to his bullpen, the Seminoles went on the attack in the fifth inning.
The momentum shifted when Cam Smith was at the plate. For the second straight time, he hit a two-run homer that tied the game.
Jaime Ferrer's RBI double gave FSU's first lead at 4-2. Max Williams added more damage with a three-run homer, FSU's second home run of the night.
Despite only having one hit, the Seminoles still found ways to get on base, whether by walks or errors from the infielders. At least two runners will be on, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to score runs.
“I don't think we really flinch,” FSU catcher Jaxson West said.
“It was tough because they did such a good job executing on the mound, but that's what we do. We respond, so that's kind of our identity, and then once we got that kind of rolling, you know, just that ship kind of sailed.
Four Seminoles finished with at least one RBI.
Marco Dinges and Williams each had two hits for FSU. The Seminoles added 10 walks and was hit by two pitches.
Smith, Ferrer and West were joined by first baseman Daniel Cantu, designated hitter Marco Dinges and starting pitchers Jamie Arnold and Carson Dorsey on the All-Region Team. FSU had seven of the 11 positions, with Arnold earning Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.
Bullpen finishes the job for FSU baseball
It was expected that FSU coach Link Jarrett was going to depend on his bullpen to close out the game for the Seminoles.
Connor Hults entered as the relief pitcher. Hults was able to get the Seminoles out of a jam in the top fifth when he left the bases loaded to end the inning.
“When he gets that breaking ball going, you have seen, it can be very special,” Jarrett said. “Some of the older good hitters sometimes seem like they can sit on that thing a little bit. I thought he did a good job.”
John Abraham also made his first tournament appearance for an inning. In one inning, he struck out two batters and left one runner on base to close the eighth inning.
Joe Charles was the closer as he struck out two batters and left two runners on base to clinch the win for the Seminoles.
Hults captured his second win on the season.
What's next for FSU baseball
Dick Howser Stadium will remain a host site for Super Regionals, which starts next Friday, June 7.
It is the first time since 2017 that FSU gets to host Super Regionals.
FSU was paired with the Oklahoma region. The Seminoles will play the winner of the Oklahoma-UConn game in the best-of-three series. Oklahoma beat U-Conn 6-4 Sunday to force a winner-take-all showdown Monday night.
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
