Florida State Rejects defeat of 12-11 in College World Series over Tennessee…

Florida State Rejects defeat of 12-11 in College World Series over Tennessee…see more

 

The Vols trailed 9-4 after four innings, but they gradually gained momentum. Seven two-out base hits in the last two innings saw the team score one run in the eighth and four runs in the bottom of the ninth, culminating in a dramatic 12-run victory in the ninth inning off a Dylan Dreiling single to left.

From the very first pitch, the game was, well, chaotic. Following a leadoff single that Blake Burke misplayed and could have been an easy out, Tennessee starter Chris Stamos allowed a four-pitch walk and a fielder’s choice that put runners on the corners.

Tony Vitello soon turned to AJ Causey, who walked the first batter and then threw a wild pitch and a five-pitch walk.

that scored the game’s opening run. Despite walking the next batter on four straight pitches, Causey got out of the jam with just one run scored by striking out the last batter.

When Christian Moore smoked a ball into right-center, he started the offense with a heads-up, lead-off triple. It seemed to me that Moore’s play caught the Noles’ outfielder off guard, thinking Moore was going to stop at second. The Florida State fielders mishandled the ball in the sun, allowing Burke to score with a bloop single to left on the next pitch. After Billy Amick walked, Dreiling’s single gave Tennessee a 2-1 lead.
When Burke hit a comebacker that Arnold played but threw the ball wide and dragged the first baseman off the bag, Jamie Arnold, the starter for the Noles, made State’s second error of the inning. Tennessee led 4-1 after two innings when Moore scored on the play.

Early on, both teams played terrible defense, but the Vols almost lost the game due to their multiple defensive errors, which continued for the most of the first half.

In the third inning, Florida State managed to peg Causey and Kirby Connell for six runs on five hits. In the fourth inning, after Aaron Combs had walked the first batter he saw on four pitches and then allowed a two-run blast to the next hitter, Combs gave up two more runs on two singles.

Combs finally put up a zero in the top of the fifth after what seemed like an eternity. He sat down the Seminole lineup in order, striking out two of the three hitters he faced.

In the B5, Tears, who had just two hits in his previous 13 at-bats, lasered a ball out of the park for his 19th dinger of the season, and Ensley poked a one-out single to right, reviving the offense.