TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 5 Florida State (12-0) used a five-run fifth inning to rally from a five-run deficit and beat Kansas (8-3) 10-5 Monday night at Dick Howser Stadium. Kansas led 5-0 through 3.5 innings before FSU scored 10 runs over the final five frames.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
 Kansas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
 FSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | X | 10 | 11 | 1 |
“When you’ve played 12 games, you think you have a good feeling about your ball club,” head coach Mike Martin said. “When you fall down five runs after four innings, you look around and wonder, ‘Is this bunch going to be satisfied with what they’ve accomplished the last three weeks, or are they going to battle?’ This ball club really showed me something tonight.”
Starting pitcher Andrew Karp (3-0) allowed his first earned runs of the season, giving up five in five innings pitched while striking out seven. Karp earned the win after FSU took a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning. Freshman reliever Jonah Scolaro picked up his second save of the season, pitching the final four innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six batters.
Scolaro has two saves on the season and has not allowed an earned run in 14.1 innings this year.
“Coming in, I wasn’t expecting to play,” Scolaro said. “Over the fall, I put in a lot of work and when I got my first opportunity, it meant a lot. But that’s all in the past. I’m focusing on the future.”
“Jonah came in and pitched extremely well,” Martin said.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead with two runs each in the first and second innings and a run in the fourth. James Cosentino, Jaxx Groshans and Brendt Citta, KU’s 2-3-4 hitters, were 7-for-15 with three runs scored and four RBI in the game.
FSU loaded the bases in the fourth inning but got just one run on Drew Mendoza’s sacrifice fly to score Jackson Lueck. In the fifth, FSU scored a season-high five runs to take a lead it would not relinquish. J.C. Flowers was hit with a pitch for the fifth time this season and Rafael Bournigal hit his first home run as a Seminole to cut the Jayhawk lead to 5-3. Bournigal finished 1-for-1 with a walk, hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly, tying his career high with three RBI.
“It’s always nice to get the first one out of the way,” Bournigal said of his home run. “Especially in the situation we were in, it was nice to start a little fire for a big team win.”
Later that inning, Cooper Swanson reached on a hit by pitch, Lueck walked and both runners scored on Cal Raleigh’s two-run double that tied the score. Raleigh tied a career high with three hits.
Mendoza followed with an RBI single to give FSU a 6-5 lead. Mendoza is now hitting 11-for-16 over the past four games with nine RBI.
Scolaro relieved Karp in the sixth inning and struck out six hitters, including all three in the top of the eighth inning.
FSU scored three more times in the seventh on an RBI single from Steven Wells and sacrifice flies from Flowers and Bournigal. In the eighth, FSU reached the 10-run barrier for just the second time this year on Mendoza’s second RBI single of the game.
KU starter Blake Goldsberry pitched four innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs. Ryan Cyr (1-1) pitched 1.2 innings in relief, striking out three but allowing the deciding run in the fifth inning.
Third baseman Drew Mendoza singled to score Cal Raleigh in the fifth inning, giving FSU a 6-5 lead. Mendoza added an RBI single in the eighth inning and is hitting 11-for-16 over the past four games.
- Florida State trailed 2-0 after the first inning. It was the first time FSU had trailed after a complete inning since the second game of the season against Xavier.
- J.C. Flowers was hit by a pitch for a team-high fifth time this year. As a team, FSU was hit by a season-high five pitches.
- Senior transfer Rafael Bournigal hit his first home run as a Seminole in the fifth inning. FSU has hit four home runs as a team this year.
- FSU’s five runs in the fifth inning tied the most in a frame this year (also 5 in the second vs. Troy, 2/25).
- Flowers hit his fifth double of the season to open the sixth inning. He had four in 213 AB as a freshman in 2017.
- Cal Raleigh has started a team-high 136 consecutive games. He tied a career high with three hits.
- FSU pitchers struck out at least 10 hitters for the 11th time this season.
- FSU improved to 12-0 on the season, tied for the fourth-longest winning streak to open a season in school history. It is the longest winning streak overall since the 16-0 start to the 2013 season.
- Drew Mendoza has multiple hits in four consecutive games.
- FSU is one of just five remaining undefeated teams in the country (Texas Tech, Oregon State, Auburn, Louisville).
FSU’s win was head coach Mike Martin’s 1,956th of his career. He needs just 20 more to become the winningest coach in college baseball history. He currently trails only Augie Garrido (1,975 wins). It was the first time FSU has faced Kansas.
Florida State and Kansas play the second game of the midweek series Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. Neither team has announced a starter.
Tuesday’s game can be heard on 106.1 FM in Tallahassee and nationwide on the FSU Gameday App. All three will also stream live on the ACC Network Extra with commentary from Ariya Massoudi and Chip Baker.
