Advertisement
Published Jun 5, 2021
Costly errors, whole lot of Ks doom FSU Baseball in 4-3 loss to Ole Miss
Corey Clark  •  TheOsceola
Lead Writer

The pitching was good enough.

And despite an enormous number of strikeouts, the offense hit two homers in the fifth inning to score three runs and put serious pressure on the No. 1 seed Ole Miss Rebels.

But the Florida State defense didn't hold up its end of the bargain. A two-out throwing error by shortstop Nander De Sedas in the top of the seventh allowed two runs to score to give the hosts a 4-3 lead.

It finished as a 4-3 win for the Rebels (43-19), who advance to the championship round of the NCAA Oxford Regional. Florida State (31-23) now plays Southern Miss, a 21-0 winner over Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon.

"He feels bad enough," Martin Jr. said of his shortstop. "You don't bring anything like that up (to the team). It's part of the game. You learn from it. The more times you're out there, the better off you are."

***Don't miss out on our great FSU sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial!***

Compounding the mistake by De Sedas was the fact that it was hit by Ole Miss star Tim Elko, who is playing with a torn ACL and can barely run out of the box. But the rushed throw sailed way over the head of first baseman Tyler Martin, and both baserunners were able to score.

Although it wound up scoring the tying and game-winning runs, the De Sedas error was far from the only costly one for the Seminoles on Saturday.

In the first inning, FSU starter Bryce Hubbart was victimized by two errors on one play -- by second baseman Jackson Greene and right fielder Robby Martin -- to allow the first two runners of the night to score for Ole Miss.

Hubbart bounced back and shut down the Rebels for the next four innings.

And then Florida State took the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a home run by Isaiah Perry -- the first of his career -- and a two-run shot by Logan Lacey later in the frame.

It was Lacey's second homer in as many days in the Oxford Regional.

It was also the Seminoles' last hit.

Ole Miss ace Doug Nikhazy struck out 16 batters in seven innings, a career-high for the lefty. And then reliever Taylor Broadway struck out three more in the ninth as the Seminoles K'd a whopping 19 times in the loss.

Both teams had just four hits in the game. And Ole Miss scored just one earned run.

But it was a 4-3 win nonetheless, and the Rebels are just one win away from a spot in the Super Regionals.

"They pitched, we pitched," Martin Jr. said. "They made defensive plays, and we made a few miscues."

If FSU is going to get to the Supers, it will have to win three in a row, starting on Sunday afternoon against Southern Miss (2 p.m. ET.) The Seminoles defeated the Golden Eagles on Friday, 5-2.

"Any time you can run out guys (on the mound) like we can, it's a good thing," Martin Jr. said. "All the guys did their job. And we've got more. We're made for a lot of ball games and to go deep. And we're going to be ready to go."

----------------------------------------------------

Discuss this story with other FSU fans on our Seminole Baseball Message Board

Advertisement