Florida State received solid pitching from the very beginning and some timely offense as they sent UCLA home from the College World Series. The Seminoles won 4-1 and will face Arizona in a rematch on Thursday at 5pm ET on ESPN2. They will need to beat the Wildcats twice to reach the championship series.

FSU got on the board in the very first inning with just one hit (a James Ramsey one out single). Stephen McGee and Justin Gonzalez walked with the bases loaded to force in two runs.

The Seminoles put up another two-spot in the 4th inning on Jayce Boyd‘s bases loaded bunt single. An error on the play scored the second run.

That was more than enough offense for the pitching staff for FSU. Veteran Scott Sitz started and allowed one run on five hits over 6.2 innings. He surprisingly struck out eight (he is not a strike out pitcher). No strikeout was bigger than the three in a row he picked up in the 6th inning with a run in for UCLA and the bases loaded.

Sitz was followed by big man Hunter Scantling, who threw 1.1 perfect innings of relief. Closer Robert Benincasa came on in the 9th inning and retired the Bruins in order, including two strikeouts and the final one looking to end the game.

On offense for FSU, it was once again the top three in the order that did the damage. Sherman Johnson, Devon Travis, and Ramsey went a combined 6-for-9 with four runs scored and four walks (and zero strikeouts).

» Continue reading “FSU Gets Rematch with Arizona, Bounces UCLA”

Stony Brook became the first team eliminated from the College World Series, as they were pummeled by Florida State, 12-2.

FSU got on the board in the very first inning on a double steal. James Ramsey was thrown out trying to steal second base, but after Sherman Johnson stole home.

Then came the top of the 3rd inning which killed any enthusiasm the Seawolves may of had. With two outs and nobody on base, FSU strung together three straight singles. The last by Ramsey drove in a run. Jayce Boyd then hit a ground ball to short that was thrown away, and two runs scored. After a walk to Stephen McGee, Justin Gonzalez crushed the pitch into the bullpen beyond the left field wall for a two-run homerun. That gave the Seminoles a 7-0 lead.

In the 4th inning, Devon Travis hit a two-out, two-run homerun to increase the Seminoles lead to 9-0. The first nine FSU runs came with two outs.

Stony Brook got on the board in the bottom of the 5th inning against freshman starter Mike Compton. Pat Cantwell drove in the first run on a ground out and Willie Carmona followed with an RBI single (he had two very hard hit balls in the game).

Compton allowed those two runs on six hits over six innings. The FSU bullpen allowed just one hit over the final three innings.

First round pick and speedy Stony Brook centerfielder Travis Jankowski finally picked up a hit in the CWS. He collected a single in the 5th inning.

The first three hitters in the FSU order (Johnson, Travis, and Ramsey) went a combined 7-for-13 with six runs scored and six RBIs.

*FSU will face the loser of tonight’s Pac 12 showdown between UCLA and Arizona on Tuesday night at 8pm ET on ESPN.

**After watching the Seawolves win at LSU last weekend in the Super Regionals, I was really disappointed with their play in the College World Series. They were never really in either of their games in Omaha. Now they are two and BBQ. But they did gain a HUGE following.