Florida State’s penchant for stranding runners on base, and specifically in scoring position, came back to bite the team. And end the Seminoles’ season.
While Cal Fisher continued his hot regional with a solo home run in the third and a two-run homer in the ninth, the Seminoles were just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and 2 for 14 with runners on base in a 5-4 loss to St. John’s.
Fisher’s blast energized Dick Howser Stadium, pulling the Seminoles within a run. John Stuetzer then hit a sharp liner back to the mound, and Brayden Dowd drew his 51st walk of the season. But Brody DeLamielleure took strike three to end the season.
Fisher had seven hits on the weekend, but FSU became the latest regional host to be eliminated — joining the likes of No. 1 national seed UCLA.
Adam Agresti had the big hit, a grand slam in the fifth off FSU’s top reliever, John Abraham. The FSU coaches were trying to stretch Abraham’s pitch count after the right-hander threw 38 in a loss to St. John’s on Friday. Abraham didn’t have the same sharpness and gave up Agresti’s slam with two outs in his second inning of work.
FSU (40-19) had been struggling with runners left on base throughout the season while still producing enough runs to win eight ACC series. But the trend caught up to the Seminoles and the lineup, playing without slugger Myles Bailey, produced hits but couldn’t bring runners home.
St. John’s (37-19) advances to the Super Regionals and will travel to Alabama for the best-of-three series this weekend.
On Monday, FSU stranded eight runners and there were opportunities in multiple innings. Ben Barrett had a one-out double in the second, but Gabe Fraser and Carter McCulley flew out.
DeLamielleure also had a pair of two-out singles but was stranded. DeLamielleure had an RBI single in the fifth as FSU manufactured a run: John Stuetzer hit into a fielder’s choice, stole second, advanced to third on an en error and scored on the hit.
In the end, FSU’s bats generated just 18 runs in four games. And the pitching staff was stretched with a fourth game over the four-day regional, and rain delays limited the start for Wes Mendes (four innings) and the relief outing for Trey Beard (four innings). Beard was stunning with nine strikeouts as he earned a save on Sunday, but the Seminoles were behind the 8-ball after losing the regional opener.
Payton Manca pitched three innings in Monday’s game, allowing just a hit and two walks while striking out three. He departed in the fourth after throwing a season-high 56 pitches (30 strikes).
After Abraham worked his way out of a jam in the fourth, stranding two runners, he loaded the bases (in part due to two walks) and Agresti’s 19th home run of the season was too much for FSU to overcome.
The Red Storm added an insurance run in the sixth, which ended up being the difference. Barrett's error allowed Cristian Bernardini to reach base and he later scored on a wild pitch by Kevin Mebil.
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