No Link, no problem: Florida State storms back after ejection to secure sweep over Pitt
Before the series started, Florida State head coach Link Jarrett said Pitt was one of the hottest teams in the country.
Well, the Panthers leave Tallahassee after being swept by Jarrett’s Seminoles. And the FSU head coach wasn’t even around to see the final five innings on Sunday after he was ejected following a baserunner obstruction call to end the fourth frame.
After Jarrett was tossed, the Seminoles scored the final five runs of the game for a come-from-behind 6-4 win over Pitt at Dick Howser Stadium. Florida State is now 33-14 overall and 15-9 in the ACC.
It was a much-needed bounce-back weekend from the Seminoles after being swept last week out in Palo Alto, California. And on Sunday, they got contributions from up and down the lineup to pull off the comeback win.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Florida State was able to scratch one run across when the suddenly red-hot Carter McCulley doubled and then scored on an RBI single by John Stuetzer. Then with runners on first and second and one out and Brody DeLamielleure grounded a ball to shortstop. The Panthers got an out at second but DeLamielleure beat the throw to first. Except that Brayden Dowd, who had reached with a walk, was ruled out on interference at the second-base bag to end the inning.
Florida State challenged the call. When the umpires came back and said the ruling stood, Jarrett was furious. And let the crew know it. So much so that both the second-base umpire and the home-plate umpire made the ejection motion at the exact same time.
But even with the controversial call, the Seminoles’ offense kept coming. Eli Putnam delivered a two-out RBI single in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-3 and then FSU put up a three-spot in the sixth to take the lead for good.
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McCulley hit his second homer of the season to lead off the frame, Dowd singled with one out and DeLamielleure launched an RBI triple off the screen in right center. He then scored on an infield single by Hunter Carns.
From there, reliever Chris Knier came in and shut the door on the Panthers’ hot-hitting lineup.
The righty pitched four innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win in relief of Bryson Moore and Payton Manca. Moore only lasted 3.1 innings on Sunday and Manca’s throw into centerfield on a potential double play ball in the fourth gave the Panthers a couple of extra runs.
But all told, the Florida State bullpen was terrific against a Pitt team that was Top 10 in the country in both batting average and slugging percentage. Manca and Knier combined for 5.2 innings and allowed two hits and no earned runs.
Florida State’s offense meanwhile had 15 hits, including six extra-base hits. McCulley was 3-for-3 with two doubles and the home run, DeLamielleure, Dowd, Carns, Nathan Cmyela and Gabe Fraser all had two hits for the Seminoles, who are now tied for third place in the ACC standings with two conference series left.
FSU plays Jacksonville at home on Tuesday night before heading on the road to face Clemson this weekend. The final ACC series will be at home the following weekend against Miami.
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