The Daily Nole

Seminoles Win Rubber Match Against VCU

Clint Eiland/The Daily Nole

Florida State head coach Mike Martin acquired his 1,900th victory of his storied coaching career with an 11-3 win over the Virginia Commonwealth Rams on Sunday. It was the final game in the season-opening series that started on Friday, having been split 1-1 heading into Sunday.

The script was pretty familiar to Saturday’s 12-3 FSU win, with the Seminoles’ offense dominating almost the entire afternoon. Florida State’s next game will be against South Florida on Tuesday, where the Seminoles hope to keep their momentum and start 3-1.

The Good: Florida State batting production carried over into Sunday, with eight different players getting at least one hit. Three different players scored more than one run and five got RBIs. The production was consistent throughout the game and piled on near the end to put it out of reach. It was quite the improvement from a 1-hit outing in series-opener on Friday.

The Bad: VCU’s second inning ultimately proved to be more damaging than foreseen. The Rams had two different errors. The first was a throwing error that allowed Matt Henderson to make it to first base. J.C. Flowers would eventually bring him with an RBI. The second error came on a hit into center field, when right fielder Alex Gransback accidentally kicked the ball with his foot. It allowed FSU shortstop Taylor Walls to third and brought in two more runs with Nick Derr and Flowers both scoring. While one inning doesn’t decide a game, it did put the Rams in an early hole that they never entirely got out of.

The Ugly: The Rams’ pitching never seemed to find their footing on Sunday. With four different pitchers, they combined to allow 13 hits, eight earned runs and only four strikeouts. Some of the issues were exaggerated due to various fielding errors, but at the end of the day, Florida State was doing whatever it wanted at the plate. The Seminoles scored in six different innings.

Studs of the Game: Nick Derr impressed with hits in each of his three at-bats. He now has the highest batting average on the team with a .625 mark for the season. Walls and Quincy Nieporte both notched two hits and combined for five RBIs on Sunday.

Duds of the Game: Jonathan Ebersole came in for one inning to pitch for the Rams. He quickly gave up two hits and three earned runs, while also contributing a wild pitch. He was subsequently pulled in the next inning.

Extra Innings: Should J.C. Flowers go out for the football team? Florida State’s current outfielder was once a 3-star wide receiver recruit, with offers from teams like Colorado, North Carolina, and Cincinnati. The Seminoles are short on wide receivers and Flowers is athletic with a 6-2, 175-pound build. It might be worth a shot.

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