Seminoles take care of Florida Gulf Coast in midweek clash
TALLAHASSE, Fla. (BVM) – The No. 8-ranked Florida State Seminoles men’s baseball team defended their home turf and took care of business against rival Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Tuesday night, winning 10-4.
A hot and humid Tuesday afternoon set the scene at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee as a steady flow of the Seminole faithful filled the stands. The Eagles of FGCU wore their royal blue and green jerseys as the Seminoles rocked their home white uniforms with Garnett letters and numbers.
Carson Montgomery, a tall right-handed freshman, took the mound for the Seminoles looking to get his first win of the season as he faced Mason Miller who is 1-1 on the season in search for an upset win against one of the hottest teams in the nation.
The Eagles were able to get to Montgomery early as they struck first in the opening frame. Brian Ellis roped a double to the outfield fence followed by a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice. Montgomery did not look sharp in the first inning and could not seem to find his stride but managed to get out of a two-on, nobody out situation in the second inning.
As for Miller, he had an impressive first two innings that consisted of efficiency and he let his defense work for him, something every pitcher can appreciate.
Yet, the No. 8 Seminoles would not go quiet with their jam-packed offensive lineup. The firework show started in the bottom of the third inning when a 1-0 pitch was absolutely demolished into the scoreboard by freshman Jaime Ferrer to tie things up at one-all. It was his second hit of the season with an exit velocity of 106 mph.
Once one run was in, the domino effect took place. Two more runs would come in the fourth inning thanks to Isaiah Perry with a line drive to left field that scored one. Another would come off of a bang-bang play by Ferrer who would be accredited for the third run of the game.
The sixth inning put the icing on the cake as six more runs would score as pinch hitter Reese Albert made his impact by plating one run, while James Tibbs and Logan Lacey went back-to-back. This included a grand slam for James, his third home run of the season. The Seminoles would go on to lead 9-1 through six.
Montgomery was locked in and settled down at this point after his hiccup in the first inning. He recorded five strikeouts through the first three innings and had some stellar defensive plays behind him. He finished with 5.2 innings pitched, seven strikeouts and one earned run.
As for the rest of the game, the bullpen for the Seminoles got some productive outs with six pitchers, however there would be some sparks late for the Eagles as they tacked on one run in the eighth and two in the ninth.
However, this would prove to be enough for the Seminoles as they held off their instate rivals before opening up their ACC season play against Wake Forest. Montgomery picked up his first win of the season and proved himself to be a mid-week starter for the distant future. For the Eagles, this would snap a 10-game win streak and lower their record to 10-3 on the season. The Seminoles improve to 8-4 and will look to improve their national ranking of eighth in the weeks to come.
