Florida State baseball lost the third and final regular season contest against the Florida Gators, 6-3, on Tuesday night. It was the third straight loss for the Seminoles and just their third defeat in Dick Howser.
For a third straight regular season, FSU has been swept by rival Florida in the season series. The Seminoles will face another top-10 team this weekend in Duke, beginning on Friday.
The Good: No matter what the Seminoles do, Florida always has a response in the ensuing inning. Florida State started hot on Tuesday night and took a 1-0 lead after Cooper Swanson broke open the scoring in the bottom of the third. The Gators promptly fought back with three runs in the top of the fourth. FSU closed the gap with a run in the fifth. Florida got two more in the sixth. Whether it’s on FSU pitching or simply Florida’s hitting, the Gators always punch back.
The Bad: Cal Raleigh went from one of the most promising players on the team to one of the most confusing. When he’s collected, he’s a great power hitter and fantastic catcher. Yet he’ll go through spurts where he gives you nothing at the plate and commits terrible mistakes on defense. Tuesday was a microcosm of his past two years. Raleigh was able to throw out two runners trying to steal second, ending the frame in both instances. Yet, he also bobbled what would have been a massive out at home plate and made a throwing error to second that allowed a tying run to get to third.
The Ugly: Another game against Florida, another disappointing outing by the FSU lineup. The Seminoles mustered a .192 overall batting average on just five hits. It was certainly an improvement from their shutout loss a couple of weeks ago, but that’s not saying much. Florida State could not muster the offense, even in prime opportunities like with runners on the corners and no outs in the sixth inning.
Studs of the Game: Cooper Swanson and Jackson Lueck hit the two home runs for the Seminoles on Tuesday night. J.J. Schwarz had two hits, one home run, and two RBIs for the Gators, while teammate Wil Dalton contributed one hit, two runs, and one RBI.
Duds of the Game: FSU third baseman Drew Mendoza went 0-for-4 at the plate with three strikeouts — a tough night for someone as talented as him. Reliever Jonah Scolaro didn’t even last an inning when he gave up two hits and made a mental error in the sixth.
Extra Innings: Some were surprised at how mild Jameis Winston’s pitch was in the pregame. Quite frankly, it would not be shocking if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers told him to not exert his right arm in any way, shape, or form. It’d be one of the first good decisions they’ve made with him since he got drafted.
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