TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 9 Florida State (20-6) scored five unanswered runs over the final three innings Wednesday night to earn a hard fought 8-7 victory over Alabama State (13-10) on Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.
Twice the Seminoles faced a deficit on Wednesday night only to fight back from three runs down after three and then four runs down after the top of the sixth.
“It was a game in which we got it done, plain and simple, we got it done,” Florida State head coach Mike Martin said. “It’s not an easy task when you fall behind by three and then fall behind by four. And each time we kept battling. I credit our guys for a great effort.”
Danny De La Calle gave the Seminoles their first lead of the night after scoring from third on a wild pitch from Jorge Pantoja (0-2) in the bottom of the eighth. The senior catcher, who entered the game at catcher in the top of the seventh, hit a ball off the wall in straight away center to open the eighth for his first career triple.
“It felt good to help out the team,” said De La Calle. “I felt like I hit it well. I thought for a second it was going to go out but then I remembered that’s a long way out there so I just kept running as hard as I can. Fortunately enough I was able to turn it into a triple.”
Billy Strode retired the side in order in the ninth to pick-up his ACC-leading eighth save of the year.
Florida State returns to ACC this play this weekend at home as the Seminoles welcome Virginia Tech to town for a three-game series.
*FSU Sports Information
