Sophomore
right-hander Luke Weaver (3-0) gave up three hits and an unearned run over 6.1
innings and sophomore Giovanny Alfonzo (2-for-4) had a key two-run single as
No. 5 Florida State (16-0) defeated Florida (8-10), 4-1, on Tuesday night in
the first of the three regular-season meetings between the Sunshine State
rivals. It was the Seminoles’ first win at McKethan Stadium since 2007, ending
a stretch of five-straight losses.
The Share A Little
Sunshine Showdown, Florida vs. Florida State Game was presented by Visit
Florida. Share a Little Sunshine is Visit Florida’s campaign to encourage all
Floridians to invite their friends and families to Florida to boost tourism and
help our state’s economy.
“Luke
[Weaver] threw the ball really well tonight, so credit him,” Florida head coach
Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He did a really good job and he deserved to win
tonight. I thought Danny [Young] threw the ball really well. He probably ran
his pitch count up too high, but he threw strikes. I was really pleased with
how he threw the ball.”
“Obviously,
we didn’t do a very good job out of the bullpen. We had two inherited runners,
we got two 0-2 counts with runners on second and third with first base open,
and we make a mistake. I know 0-2 hits are part of this game and they happen
from time to time, but in a situation like that with two runners in scoring
position, they just can’t happen and us expect to win.”
The
Seminoles opened the scoring in the first inning on a two-out double into right
center field by redshirt junior Stephen McGee off of freshman left-hander Danny
Young (Boca Raton, Fla.) (0-1), who was making his first career start.
Sophomore Josh Delph had started the contest with a base-hit up the middle and was
sacrificed to second on a bunt by redshirt junior Brett Knief. A fielder’s
choice by junior Marcus Davis resulted in Delph being caught in a run-down and
thrown out, with Davis taking second base on the play. McGee followed with his
fifth double to drive in Davis.
Freshman
John Sansone reached on a dropped fly ball by senior first baseman Vickash
Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) in the third and Knief was hit by a pitch with one down
for a pair of Seminoles aboard. Young worked out of trouble by having both Davis
and McGee fly out.
Alfonzo
provided FSU with a 3-0 lead with a two-run single in the fourth inning. Freshman
DJ Stewart began the frame with a single through the right side of the infield
and sophomore John Nogowski drew a walk before sophomore Jose Brizuela sacrificed
his teammates into scoring position with a bunt. Harris replaced Young (3.1 IP,
3 H, 3 R) and Alfonzo plated both of his teammates with a base-knock into right
field.
In
the home part of the inning, freshman Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.)
(2-for-4) led off with a single up the middle and stole second with one out for
his team-leading fourth theft. Bader advanced to third base on a grounder by
sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) and scored when Weaver
dropped the relay throw on a grounder by Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton,
Fla.) that would have been the final out of the stanza. Gushue later went to
second base on a wild pitch and Ramjit earned a free pass before Weaver had sophomore
Connor Mitchell (Tampa, Fla.) fly out to left field to end the inning.
Nogowski
was hit by a pitch from Harris to open the sixth and Brizuela singled into
right field before a fly ball to the warning track by Alfonzo pushed Nogowski
to third base. Brizuela stole second and Sansone walked to fill the bags with
one down. Harris plunked Delph to bring across Nogowski for a 4-1 score and
junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) came in for Harris (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R).
The southpaw retired senior pinch hitter Seth Miller on a foul pop-up to Gushue
and had Davis line out to center field to hold the Gators’ deficit at three
runs.
Freshman
Tucker Simpson (Oxford, Ala.) set down the Seminoles on eight pitches in
the seventh in his first career relief appearance. Ramjit walked with one down
in the bottom of the inning and moved to second when Weaver was charged with a
balk. Mitchell legged out an infield single, ending the night for Weaver (6.1
IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER). Redshirt junior Gage Smith had a grounder by freshman
pinch hitter Christian Dicks (Jacksonville, Fla.) force Mitchell at second
base and then had freshman pinch hitter Kevin Stypulkowski (Lake Worth,
Fla.) ground out to keep the score at 4-1.
Alfonzo
roped a one-out single into left field in the eighth, bringing sophomore Johnny
Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) into the game for Simpson (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K).
The right-hander had Sansone and Delph fly out.
Bader
had an infield single off of sophomore reliever Bryant Holtmann with one out and
Shafer beat out a single to third base with two down to cause a pitching
change. Junior Robby Coles hit Gushue to load the bases and had Ramjit ground
out to preserve the three-run advantage for the Seminoles.
Miller
started the ninth with a double to the gap in left center and went to third on
a fly out by Davis. Magliozzi had McGee pop up and struck out Stewart to strand
the runner 90 feet away. Coles retired the Gators in order to finish the game
and collect his second save.
