Florida State ended a mini slump on Tuesday night with a win that could end up jump-starting things for weeks to come. J.C. Flowers’ 2-run single in the bottom of the ninth gave FSU a 10-9 win over Jacksonville after falling behind by seven runs in the first inning.
The victory at Dick Howser Stadium should serve as a huge weight off FSU’s collective shoulders following a week where it was shut out twice and blew an 8-run lead in a loss to Virginia Tech. FSU improves to 15-7 and will have two days off before heading to South Bend to take on Notre Dame for three games.
The Good: Aside from simply rallying from a 7-0 deficit to get the victory, Florida State showed a lot of fight on Tuesday night. After consecutive games against Virginia Tech where it blew a 10-2 lead and then suffered the biggest shutout loss in program history, it would have been easy to roll over and die after yielding a 7-spot to the Dolphins in the first. FSU did not do that.
The Bad: Defense wasn’t a thing of beauty on Tuesday as FSU and Jacksonville combined for four errors, which led to six unearned runs. Freshmen Flowers and Tyler Daughtry each kicked it around for FSU while Dakota Julylia and Scott Dubrule did likewise for the Dolphins.
The Ugly: For the second straight midweek game, the FSU starter failed to make it out of the first inning. Entering Tuesday, Andrew Karp had been stellar, but that was not the case Tuesday night. Karp allowed six runs on just three hits in 2/3 of an inning before being yanked for Jim Voyles.
Studs of the Game: Flowers, Tuesday night’s hero, certainly gets a mention after a 3-for-5 night with a run and two RBIs. Taylor Walls and Cal Raleigh each homered for the Seminoles. Walls was a triple shy of the cycle, finishing 4-for-5 with two runs and two driven in. Raleigh was 3-for-4 with a solo shot and three runs scored. Chris Lahane was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored for Jacksonville.
Duds of the Game: Karp unfortunately gets this distinction for Tuesday night after his worst outing of the year. In addition to the error, Dubrule was 0-for-4 at the plate for the Dolphins.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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