Florida State had an early wake-up call and didn’t deliver any runs in its final at-bats of a rain-delayed game on Sunday.
Not that it mattered. Trey Beard took care of business.
FSU’s No. 2 pitcher took the mound in the top of the sixth and worked four shutout innings, striking out nine of the 14 batters he faced, as the Seminoles eliminated Coastal Carolina 2-1 in the Tallahassee Regional.
Beard gave up a leadoff walk in the sixth but then methodically worked his way through the Chants’ lineup. Aside from that walk and a one-out single that a diving Brayden Dowd couldn’t grab in shallow center in the ninth, Beard dodged harm.
The Seminoles (39-18) finished the game with eight hits but went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. They stranded a runner in every inning except the first.
FSU’s two runs came on Saturday when Nathan Cmeyla had an RBI double and Cal Fisher had a no-doubt solo home run.
The Seminoles will now have a break and face the Northern Illinois-St. John’s winner. That game will start at 2 p.m., with FSU set to play at 6 p.m. (weather permitting).
Juggling pitching options
Jarrett discussed after the completion of the game how he and pitching coach Micah Posey watched the radar and made a decision on who would pitch after the first delay Saturday afternoon. They agreed to not use Beard then, thinking there was a short window and opted to go with Brodie Purcell (who pitched a shutout fifth inning).
Bringing Wes Mendes back after the first delay became too much to consider, Jarrett said.
“One of the biggest decisions we’ve made in a long time is what do you do coming out of that delay. We were not going to put Wes out there. … I looked at the radar and felt like there was a chance that we re-started and didn’t play very long. And if we had run Trey out there and he throws an inning and he is not built to bounce back like your relievers are, so our decision to go with Purcell was very important. Micah and I were on the same page … We were trying to find a window for him (Beard).”
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