The Florida State Seminoles built an insurmountable lead in the sixth inning to defeat the Troy Trojans 7-3 on Friday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium. The Seminoles pitched a shutout for eight innings before cruising to the easy victory.
The Good: It didn’t seem like a positive sign when Cole Sands gave up a hit on just his second pitch of the game. The recent injury to Tyler Holton forces the Seminoles to look elsewhere for reliable starters, and Sands is one of the top candidates. After his slight blip to begin the game, he put together a masterful performance as a starter and allowed just one hit over the next five innings. Getting a game like this under his belt is crucial to his confidence moving forward.
The Bad: Troy’s sixth inning was what broke its spirits and turned the small FSU lead into an insurmountable one. The Seminoles brought in four runs after a homer to left field and a wild pitch that allowed Steven Wells Jr. to score. Walking four Florida State batters did not help the Trojan cause, and letting up a massive play to Jonathan Foster in his first at-bat spelled trouble.
The Ugly: Troy could not connect with pitches at any point of the game. The Trojans were completely shut out on the scoreboard and stunted at the plate. The Trojans connected for a hit just four times in the contest and finished with a .143 overall average as a team.
Studs of the Game: Cole Sands went for six innings and allowed just two hits and zero earned runs. He also grabbed five strikeouts. Jonathan Foster made his initial impact at FSU in quite the fashion. He stepped up to the plate for the first time in the sixth inning, and promptly smacked one off the left field foul pole for a 3-run homer. How is that for first impressions?
Duds of the Game: Troy pitcher Andrew Crane was doing okay up until the crucial sixth frame. That was where he let in three more runs and put his team into a hole it could not lift itself out of. Cal Raleigh gets the rare winning team dud after going 0-for-4 at the plate and leaving four runners on base. The junior catcher has yet to break from his slump.
Extra Innings: We’re not experts in sports management, but assuming the name of the Troy Trojans seems like doom for your sports teams. The actual Troy is notable because of how it got burned down and its fighters were slaughtered. Imagine naming a team the “Waterloo Frenchmen”.
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