After suffering a heartbreaking 11-12 defeat against Tennessee on Friday, Florida State made a strong comeback against the 12th seed, Virginia, today.
Junior pitcher Carson Dorsey took the mound for the Seminoles and continued to showcase his exceptional skills throughout the postseason. Hailing from Panama City Beach, Dorsey delivered an impressive performance, allowing only two runs in eight innings against Virginia’s formidable offense. The Noles struggled to get a base runner in the first two and a third innings.
However, in the bottom of the third, Drew Farout and Max Williams hit singles, and Cam Smith drew a walk, loading the bases with two outs. ACC player of the year, James Tibbs III, came to the plate, and on a full count, junior pitcher Jay Woolfolk walked him, scoring the first run of the game for the Noles.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, junior outfielder Jamie Ferrer crushed a home run over the left field fence, extending Florida State’s lead to 2-0. Following this, Virginia replaced Woolfolk and brought in a relief pitcher.
The game seemed to be going according to plan for the Cavaliers until the bottom of the fifth inning. Cam Smith hit a two-out double into right field, causing Virginia to intentionally walk James Tibbs. Designated hitter Max Dinges then singled to center, bringing Smith home and increasing the Noles’ lead to 3-0. Jamie Ferrer stepped up to the plate once again and, just like in the fourth inning, launched a home run into the bullpen, this time a three-run shot, making it 6-0 in favor of the Seminoles.
In the bottom of the sixth, Florida State extended their lead to 7-0 with a solo home run by Alex Lodise.
Carson Dorsey faced some challenges in the seventh inning as Henry Godbout and Casey Saucke hit RBI singles to left field, narrowing the gap to 7-2. However, Dorsey showed resilience and struck out star freshman Henry Ford, successfully completing the inning. After allowing a single in the top of the eighth, manager Link Jarrett made the decision to replace Dorsey, resulting in a roaring ovation from the Nole fans.
Dorsey’s final statline was impressive, pitching seven innings with 107 pitches, four strikeouts, four hits (no extra-base hits), and two runs.
Left-handed reliever Brennan Oxford took over in the eighth inning with a runner on base. Unfortunately, Oxford gave up a two-out RBI double, allowing Virginia to reduce the Seminoles’ lead to 3-7. However, Bobby Whalen flew out to right field, ending the inning.
Oxford returned to the mound for the top of the ninth to face the top of the Cavalier lineup. He managed to overcome a walk and induced a double play to conclude the game. Despite being out-hit 10-7, Jamie Ferrer led the charge for the Noles, helping them stave off elimination. Florida State will now face the loser of the Tennessee-North Carolina game on Tuesday at 2:00 PM EST.
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