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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Leftfielder Mike McGee’s two-out solo homer to right-center in the bottom of the ninth lifted Florida State to a 9-8 win over Vanderbilt in the first game of the NCAA Tallahassee Super Regional Friday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
The Commodores valiantly came back from a 6-0 deficit to take two one-run leads late in both the seventh and eighth innings, but could not hold on to drop to 45-19.
The Seminoles improved to 46-17 and need just one more win to advance o the College World Series for the 20th time in school history.
“Well, it was a good ballgame,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “I thought the way our kids came back from a 6-0 deficit, which didn’t shock me at all, I figured we would once the game slowed down a little bit. Taylor did a nice job of getting back on his feet after the second inning and keeping us in the game. After that we just kept whittling away and scoring runs every inning. We were persistent and just couldn’t hold them at the end.”
The teams will play game two tomorrow at Noon CT/1 p.m. ET and it will be televised on ESPN.
With the game tied at 8-8 in the ninth and the top of the lineup up, Chase Reid got Tyler Holt and Sherman Johnson to fly out to center on two pitches. On his fourth pitch, McGee then lofted a 0-1 pitch over the wall in right-center to win the game. It was his 15th homer of the year and the third for the Seminoles in the game.
Reid (4-2) allowed two runs in two innings on two hits, both solo homers, with a strikeout in the losing effort.
Daniel Bennett (5-1) pitched two innings of one-hit scoreless relief with three strikeouts to pick up the win for FSU.
Curt Casali led the Commodores with four hits as every player got a hit on the 16-hit afternoon. Jason Esposito added two hits and three RBI while Vanderbilt had a season-high four homers on the afternoon.
The Seminoles took advantage of two walks in the first to score a couple of runs to take a 2-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Tyler Holt walked and after a flyout by Sherman Johnson, moved to second when Mike McGee walked. James Ramsey then singled home Holt from second and McGee moved to third on the play. Stephen Cardullo’s sacrifice fly to center plated McGee for the second run in the frame.
FSU tacked on four more runs in the second, sparked by a two-run double by Tyler Holt and a two-run homer by Sherman Johnson to take a 6-0 lead.
The Commodores got on the board in the fourth on Curt Casali’s solo homer to right. VU continued to rally plating three more runs in the fifth, all with two outs, on a two-run double by Jason Esposito and a RBI double by Casali to cut the lead to 6-4.
“Once you score the first run, runs and hits are contagious,” Casali said. “I was just hoping to put a good swing on the ball. Fortunately it got over the fence and after that we might have exposed a little bit of the pitcher and with the guys behind me, we put good swings on the ball and scored a couple of runs.”
FSU starter Sean Gilmartin allowed four runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings with four strikeouts and a walk in the no-decision.
Joe Loftus’ solo homer to right to lead off the sixth cut the lead to 6-5. Mike Yastrzemski doubled to center and two-outs later Anthony Gomez lifted a liner to right that FSU right fielder James Ramsey dove for and could not come up with. Yastrzemski came into score to complete the six-run comeback.
Taylor Hill allowed six runs, all in the first two innings, on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings in the no-decision.
“I just wanted to go out there and keep throwing strikes,” said Hill about rebounding from the rough start. “Like [coach] said, I went out there to mix it up and try to get ahead, just keep getting ahead and keep getting ground balls, because I knew they were going to find our infielders.”
Jason Esposito’s solo homer to left-center to lead off the seventh gave the Commodores their first lead of the day at 7-6.
The Seminoles tied the game back up in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly RBI by James Ramsey off of reliever Richie Goodenow
Goodenow allowed one run on three hits in 1.2 innings with a strikeout in relief. It was the first earned run he has allowed since April 16 against Auburn (span of 21 innings).
Mike Yastrzemski’s solo homer in the top of the eighth put the Dores back up 8-7. It was his third homer of the season and the team’s fourth of the day, the most since belting four against Mississippi State on April 26th of last year.
For the second straight inning FSU tied the game back up, this time with a solo homer to left field by Jayce Boyd off of Chase Reid in the eighth.
Boyd led the Seminoles with three hits while four other players added two hits each.
Photo by Ross Obley
