The word Omaha is enough to get any college baseball fan’s adrenaline rushing. It’s a place of triumph and tragedy. It’s where champions are crowned. But for Florida State over the years, it’s been a cruel, cruel place.
The latest example came Saturday night with a 5-4 loss to LSU. The Seminoles surrendered a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning only to put the tying run in scoring position in a heartbreaking defeat.
The play that changed the game came on a single to right field where Steven Wells, Jr. committed two errors on one play, which allowed Antoine Duplantis to score the tying run. Still, Duplantis looked to be gunned on the relay to the plate, but FSU catcher Cal Raleigh dropped the baseball. LSU went ahead for good the very next hitter as Greg Deichmann delivered the game-winning single to right field.
Although the year changes, the devastation that Florida State has experienced in the College World Series remains a constant. Prior to this season, the last appearance for FSU in the College World Series was 2012.
That trip to Omaha began with a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss in 12 innings to eventual national champion Arizona. FSU was able to extend its stay in Omaha with wins over Stony Brook and UCLA, but a second loss to Arizona by a 10-3 score ended its season.
In the trip prior — in 2010 — FSU opened the College World Series with an 8-1 loss to TCU. After beating rival Florida, the Seminoles looked to be on the verge of getting even with the Horned Frogs in the rematch. FSU led 7-2 through six innings and 7-3 through seven, only to watch TCU score eight runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a grand slam from Matt Curry. Six outs later, the Seminoles had lost, 11-7, and the season was over.
Florida State’s 2008 trip to Omaha began with a contest against Stanford. The Seminoles trailed most of the way, but a 3-run home run by Jason Stidham in the bottom of the eighth evened things at five. FSU proceeded to allow 11 runs in the top half of the ninth in a 16-5 defeat.
Two days later, FSU squandered an 18-hit effort in a 7-5 loss to rival Miami. To rub further salt to the wound, the contest ended for FSU with the bases loaded, meaning the go-ahead run was on base.
In 2000, it was LSU that ended Florida State’s national championship dreams. After dropping the opening contest to USC, FSU defeated Texas and then USC in a rematch to get to face the Tigers. Florida State scored two runs in the top of the eighth to even that contest, only to watch the Tigers score three in the bottom half in a 6-3 loss. The year before, FSU lost to Miami for the national championship in a 1-run game, 6-5.
This year’s College World Series appearance is the 22nd for FSU and unless the Seminoles are able to win four straight, they’ll maintain the record for most CWS showings without a title. If there is a ray of optimism, FSU was in the exact same situation in the Tallahassee Regional and came through to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.
While self-inflicted wounds have been a theme for FSU this season as they were on Saturday, another theme has been FSU’s never-say-die attitude displayed throughout the course of what has been a largely difficult campaign. The team seems to play its best baseball with its backs up against the wall that will be the case as the Seminoles face Cal State Fullerton in an elimination game on Monday.
The law of averages suggests that at some point, FSU’s luck in the College World Series has to change. But unless the Seminoles can do the unthinkable, they and their fans will get an unpleasant reminder of how cold Omaha can be — even in the middle of June.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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