The Corvallis Super Regional began with heartbreak for the Florida State baseball team Friday night.
It ended in a demoralizing way Sunday night.
With its season on the line in the winner-take-all third game of the series vs. Oregon State, the Seminoles dug themselves into a huge early hole, trailing 7-2 after one inning at Goss Stadium. FSU put up a fight from there, but never managed to play its way out of that deficit, falling 14-10 to the Beavers and coming up one win short of a second straight trip to the College World Series.
Coming off a career-best start last Sunday in FSU's regional-clinching win, Sunday starter Wes Mendes failed to get out of the first inning Sunday night in Corvallis. Staked with an early 2-0 lead before he even took the mound thanks to Max Williams' 19th home run of the season, Mendes allowed the first two runners of the OSU first to reach.
He had a chance to limit the damage when he got a groundout that allowed the first run of the inning to score but got him the second out. From there, though, things spiraled in a hurry for the sophomore lefty. The next four batters went RBI single, RBI single, three-run home run, solo homer to chase Mendes after just two-thirds of an inning over which he allowed seven runs on five hits with a walk and a hit-by pitch.
That dug FSU into an early hole. A six-run third inning for Oregon State buoyed by a grand slam from Trent Caraway off Joe Charles and a two-run homer from Gavin Turley off Chris Knier to put FSU into an even more serious 13-3 hole. From that point on, the FSU pitching staff settled in well, but the damage had been done by the Beavers, who mashed 13 runs on nine hits with four home runs in the opening 2.2 innings of Sunday's game.
That was as many runs (13) as FSU's pitching staff allowed in its first five games of this NCAA Tournament combined.
When looking at the box score without seeing the final score, one would think this was a far more competitive than it was in reality. FSU actually outhit OSU in Sunday's game 17 to 12 and hit three home runs of its own, with Chase Williams hitting his second homer of the NCAA Tournament in the second inning and Myles Bailey hitting his eighth home run in the last nine games (and 19th of the season) in the sixth inning.
The difference, though, was OSU was able to finish off its big innings while that huge frame never came for the Seminoles in Corvallis. FSU plated one run in the fourth but left the bases loaded, two more in the fifth before again leaving the bases loaded and then couldn't build off Bailey's home run in the sixth inning.
FSU put the first two batters of the ninth on base with singles, but managed to plate just two runs, ending the game with the tying run two batters away from coming to the plate.
The Seminoles stranded 10 runners on base Sunday while OSU stranded just three runners. FSU plated 17 runs in three games of the Corvallis Super Regional, but never managed to plate more than two runs in a single inning.
Knier, Peyton Prescott and Connor Hults combined to allow no runs on two hits over OSU's final four innings at the plate, giving the offense a chance to mash its way back into the game. But that never came for the Seminoles. And unfortunately for the Seminoles, Prescott, who was a lights-out reliever in the postseason for the Seminoles, left the mound after just eight pitches with what appeared to be an arm injury.
Sunday's loss keeps FSU one win short of clinching consecutive College World Series trips for the first time in program history in 25 years.
It ended in a demoralizing way Sunday night.
With its season on the line in the winner-take-all third game of the series vs. Oregon State, the Seminoles dug themselves into a huge early hole, trailing 7-2 after one inning at Goss Stadium. FSU put up a fight from there, but never managed to play its way out of that deficit, falling 14-10 to the Beavers and coming up one win short of a second straight trip to the College World Series.
Coming off a career-best start last Sunday in FSU's regional-clinching win, Sunday starter Wes Mendes failed to get out of the first inning Sunday night in Corvallis. Staked with an early 2-0 lead before he even took the mound thanks to Max Williams' 19th home run of the season, Mendes allowed the first two runners of the OSU first to reach.
He had a chance to limit the damage when he got a groundout that allowed the first run of the inning to score but got him the second out. From there, though, things spiraled in a hurry for the sophomore lefty. The next four batters went RBI single, RBI single, three-run home run, solo homer to chase Mendes after just two-thirds of an inning over which he allowed seven runs on five hits with a walk and a hit-by pitch.
That dug FSU into an early hole. A six-run third inning for Oregon State buoyed by a grand slam from Trent Caraway off Joe Charles and a two-run homer from Gavin Turley off Chris Knier to put FSU into an even more serious 13-3 hole. From that point on, the FSU pitching staff settled in well, but the damage had been done by the Beavers, who mashed 13 runs on nine hits with four home runs in the opening 2.2 innings of Sunday's game.
That was as many runs (13) as FSU's pitching staff allowed in its first five games of this NCAA Tournament combined.
When looking at the box score without seeing the final score, one would think this was a far more competitive than it was in reality. FSU actually outhit OSU in Sunday's game 17 to 12 and hit three home runs of its own, with Chase Williams hitting his second homer of the NCAA Tournament in the second inning and Myles Bailey hitting his eighth home run in the last nine games (and 19th of the season) in the sixth inning.
The difference, though, was OSU was able to finish off its big innings while that huge frame never came for the Seminoles in Corvallis. FSU plated one run in the fourth but left the bases loaded, two more in the fifth before again leaving the bases loaded and then couldn't build off Bailey's home run in the sixth inning.
FSU put the first two batters of the ninth on base with singles, but managed to plate just two runs, ending the game with the tying run two batters away from coming to the plate.
The Seminoles stranded 10 runners on base Sunday while OSU stranded just three runners. FSU plated 17 runs in three games of the Corvallis Super Regional, but never managed to plate more than two runs in a single inning.
Knier, Peyton Prescott and Connor Hults combined to allow no runs on two hits over OSU's final four innings at the plate, giving the offense a chance to mash its way back into the game. But that never came for the Seminoles. And unfortunately for the Seminoles, Prescott, who was a lights-out reliever in the postseason for the Seminoles, left the mound after just eight pitches with what appeared to be an arm injury.
Sunday's loss keeps FSU one win short of clinching consecutive College World Series trips for the first time in program history in 25 years.
