TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State baseball team topped double figures for the fifth time this season when it posted a 16-4 victory over St. John’s in the series opener on Friday evening on Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.
The Seminoles, who picked up their seventh win of the campaign, had five players with multiple RBI, including Dylan Busby who led the way with three, following a 2-for-4 outing.
Joining Busby with multiple RBI were Taylor Walls (2-3, 2 RBI), John Sansone (2-3, 2 RBI), Ben DeLuzio (2-3, 2 RBI) and Darren Miller (2-3, 2 RBI). That collection was primarily responsible for the second 10-run inning of the season, and first since the season opener against Rhode Island, as Florida State put 10 runs across in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
With a solid offensive and defensive support cast, starter Mike Compton earned his second win of the season. The redshirt senior went six innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs, while striking out five Red Storm batters.
“There is no way that I can say that I expected this,” said head coach Mike Martin. “This is one of those games that just got away from St. John’s, a very good Regional team who played Arkansas for the championship last year. This just happened to be our night and we got a lot of key hits in the inning that we got four runs and Michael (Compton) pitched extremely well.”
He was followed on the mound by Taylor Blatch, who saw his first action of the season, along with Ronnie Ramirez and Andy Ward. Ramirez and Ward held the Red Storm hitless and combined for two strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.
Busby drove in the first runs for the Seminoles in the fourth inning when he singled into left, scoring Cal Raleigh and Sansone. DeLuzio followed with a double to right field, bringing home both Busby and Gage West to make for a 4-0 Florida State advantage.
Compton preserved the scoreless game in the top of the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning, before Florida State’s offense exploded for 10 runs on six hits in the bottom half of the inning. The onslaught began with a two-run home run by Taylor Walls and continued when Busby singled to the shortstop to plate Raleigh and Quincy Nieporte.
After a Gage West sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Sansone from third, DeLuzio reached base with a bunt single. That was followed by Miller, who lifted a double to right centerfield to score both Busby and DeLuzio for the 11-0 Seminole lead. Three batters later Sansone got into the action with a two-run single to left field that brought home Walls and Miller. The final run crossed the plate via a walk by Jackson Lueck.
The Red Storm (2-5) put two runs across in sixth inning, which came on a double to left field by Michael Donadio, and two more in the seventh, following a single by Josh Shaw, making for a 10-run contest.
However, Florida State answered with runs in the seventh and eighth, to make for the final 16-4 score.
The series continues on Saturday evening, also a 6 p.m. start, when sophomore right hander Drew Carlton (2-0, 1.64 ERA) toes the rubber. It is still to be determined who Carlton will face, but the Lakeland native has put together solid outings against Rhode Island (5 IP, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO) and College of Charleston (6 IP, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO).
Carlton is the team leader in strikeouts and ranks second to Cole Sands (0.90) in earned run average. Sands (2-0) will wrap up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m., when he squares off against fellow right hander Ryan McAuliffe (0-0, 1.86).
Seminole fans can always stay up-to-date with the Florida State Baseball team by following the official twitter page of the Seminoles (@FSUBaseball).
---Courtesy: Seminole Athletics---
