Top seed, big rival in Fla. State’s path
Seminoles hope to topple Gators in super regional
Florida State did not panic when it fell behind after the first inning in two of its three NCAA Tallahassee Regional games.
The composed Seminoles relied on their strengths and, in the end, made it look easy with 43 runs in three games to claim another regional title Sunday.
Florida State’s next challenge, though, is No. 1 national seed and state rival Florida in this weekend’s super regional in Gainesville, Fla., for the second consecutive season.
The Gators, who swept their home regional in three games, were ranked No. 2 in USA TODAY Sports’ coaches poll before regional play began. And Florida has had a lot of recent success against the Seminoles.
“We will have a good plan for them, and they will have a good plan for us,” Florida State assistant coach Mike Martin Jr. said Monday.
“It boils down to pitching and playing defense. That’s what we are focused on, putting pressure on them. Nobody likes pressure put on them. That’s our objective.”
Martin said the Seminoles planned to stick with their start- ing rotation of Drew Carlton (7-3, 4.36 ERA) and Tyler Holton (3-3, 2.92) and, if a third game is necessary, Cole Sands (6-6, 4.21).
The Gators’ regional rotation featured Logan Shore (11-0, 2.44), A.J. Puk (2-3, 3.21) and Alex Faedo (13-1, 3.19).
Florida (50-13) is 3-0 this season against the Seminoles (40-20) and has won five consecutive games dating to 2015, including last year’s super regional. Florida State’s last win in Gainesville, where Florida is 30-4 this season, was in 2013.
Martin doesn’t expect either team to be affected by additional pressure.
“It’s a rivalry, that speaks for itself,” Martin said.
Florida is 10-3 all-time in super regional games played at Gainesville’s McKethan Stadium. Florida State is making is eighth trip to the super regional round in the past nine seasons.
Both teams provided more than enough support for their pitchers in regional play.
Florida State is hitting .300 as a team and ranks sixth nationally in base on balls (318) and seventh in on-base percentage (.409). Florida pitchers rank ninth nationally in ERA (3.02).
“Those few hittable pitches they give you, you better be ready,” Martin said.
“That’s what we are going to strive like crazy to do ... pick out counts in which they tend to leave pitches over the middle of the plate and be ready.”
Florida State third baseman John Sansone said the Seminoles were peaking at the right time.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said after Sunday’s win against South Alabama.
The Seminoles reached the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title game in Durham, N.C., before falling 18-13 to Clemson.
“We ended the season on a bad note, but we knew playoff baseball is totally different,” Sansone said. “And to do what we did in Durham and do what we did this weekend, it just gives us a lot of confidence.”
Florida first baseman Peter Alonso said the Gators felt the same way. They are looking to reach the College World Series for the second year in a row. Florida State last appeared in 2012.
“We played extremely solid (in regional), and going into Florida State next weekend, it’s going to be a really, really big series,” Alonso told The Gainesville Sun.
“It’s high stakes, an intrastate rivalry; it’s going to be a really good atmosphere. But playing solid the way we played, it’s an extremely good steppingstone for next weekend.”
Henry writes for the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.