TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – For the final time in his 40-year career, head coach Mike Martin donned his Sunday Golds and led Florida State (34-18) to victory, this time a 7-2 win over Richmond (25-22-1) in front of 4,011 fans in Dick Howser Stadium. The game capped Florida State’s home schedule for the 2019 season and was the final game on Mike Martin Field for the legendary skipper, who announced in June that 2019 was his last season. FSU finished 28-9 at home this year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| UR | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| FSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
A night after a celebration in his honor at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center saw hundreds of former players and fans return to show their appreciation, the Seminoles started sluggish as Richmond led 2-0 through four innings. Conor Grady (8-4) had one blemish Sunday, a two-run home run to A.J. Kloehn in the second inning. Grady pitched five innings, giving up four hits and striking out five.
The Seminole bats came to life in the ‘Oh, Canada’ fifth inning, striking for six runs on four hits against Garrett Aylor (3-2), Dalton Light and Brian Craven. Reese Albert doubled and scored on Mike Salvatore’s sixth home run of the season off the scoreboard in left field. Drew Mendoza immediately followed with his team-high 14th home run to give FSU a 3-2 lead.
Light walked all three batters he faced and Craven gave up a two-run double to J.C. Flowers that just skipped over the third baseman. Flowers leads FSU with 47 RBI on the season. Nander De Sedas added a sacrifice fly for the 6-2 lead.
All six of Antonio Velez’s outs come via strikeout Sunday. Velez pitched in relief of Grady for the sixth and seventh innings, tying his career high with six strikeouts.
Martin gave FSU a 7-2 lead with an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored Mendoza.
Richmond made a run in the eighth inning, getting the first three batters on base against Clayton Kwiatkowski, but the rain delay started after Chase Haney struck out a batter and the game was called shortly thereafter.
Martin tipped his cap to the Seminole faithful and, with his wife Carol, walked around the field that bears his name for the final time in front of the home crowd.
OF NOTE
- Mike Salvatore hit his sixth home run of the season. Salvatore hit .533 against Richmond (8-for-15) with three doubles, a triple and a home run. The senior leads FSU with 18 doubles and four triples on the year.
- Drew Mendoza hit his 14th home run, giving FSU a 3-2 lead that proved to be the game winner. Mendoza’s 14 home runs are four more than his previous season high when he had 10 as a freshman in 2017.
- Conor Grady earned his eighth win Sunday, most on the team and matching the team high from 2018 (Andrew Karp).
- Robby Martin had three hits in five at-bats against Richmond on the weekend, pushing his batting average to a team-high .341.
- All six of Antonio Velez’s outs recorded were via strikeout, tying his career high (April 24 against Stetson).
UP NEXT
Florida State hits the road to face Louisville Thursday-Saturday this week. All three games will stream on the ACC Network Extra.
The Seminoles have won the season series against the Cardinals in three of four seasons since Louisville joined the ACC. Last season, FSU won 2-of-3 in Tallahassee and won 11-8 in 10 innings in the ACC Championship Game.
Two years ago, FSU visited a top-5 Louisville team to close the season and swept the Cardinals in two games before the finale was rained out.
For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, or keep up with the team on social media through Twitter (@FSUBaseball), Facebook (/FSUBaseball), and Instagram (@NoleBaseball).
