The broken scoreboard in left field made it appear as if Tennessee Tech did nothing against the Florida State baseball team.
Everyone inside Dick Howser Stadium knew that couldn't be further from the truth. One of the hottest teams in college baseball went cold Friday when No. 15 FSU suffered a 3-1 loss to TTU in the Tallahassee Regional.
FSU entered the postseason on a six-game winning streak, which also saw the Seminoles (39-21) capture the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. That streak along with an 18-5 finish over the final month of the season resulted in FSU becoming a regional host.
Now the Seminoles face a stark reality. The last time FSU was in this position came in 2014 when it opened the regional with a 7-0 loss to Georgia Southern and was eliminated after a 6-5 loss to Alabama in the next game.
FSU will face No. 22 Central Florida (40-21) at noon in an elimination game. A win would extend FSU's season by at least one more game. A loss, however, would send what's been a roller coaster season into free fall.
"That one obviously hurt when you had a pitching performance that was literally unbelievable," Seminoles coach Mike Martin said. "Drew Parrish was dominating. His seven innings of two-hit baseball, 12 strikeouts. It was a beautiful thing, but its a nine-inning game.
"You've gotta to tip your hat to Tennessee Tech. They did a good job of getting it done."
An FSU-TTU game was initially expected to be a slugfest. The Golden Eagles entered the Tallahassee Regional batting a robust .320 with 97 home runs and a .528 slugging percentage. The Seminoles were averaging more than seven runs a game over their streak.
Yet the 3,514 fans who showed up were given something different.
Parrish set an early tone. He already had a career-high eight strikeouts by the third inning and kept the Golden Eagles frustrated.
TTU's Michael Wood, who gave up one run and four hits over six innings, stayed out of trouble due in part to FSU's baserunning blunders.
FSU had a runner on first with one out in the third, but Taylor Walls lined out to Tech shortstop David Garza, who doubled up Matt Henderson at first base. In the fourth, Dylan Busby and Jackson Lueck reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk.
Busby strayed off second and was picked off by Wood, who then recorded two quick outs in succession.
The Seminoles' lone run came in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and second with two outs, Quincy Nieporte drove in J.C. Flowers with a single to left. Nieporte tried to stretch it into a double but was caught in a rundown for the final out of the inning.
"I'm doing my best to suppress that because that's obviously something that's not what our program is about," Martin said of his team's poor baserunning.
Parrish reached the eighth inning and gave up a single. Despite getting the first out, he was pulled in favor of closer Drew Carlton. Parrish, who went seven and two-thirds innings, finished with 12 strikeouts and one walk.
After Parrish was given a standing ovation, he watched as Carlton gave up an RBI double to left fielder Nick Osbourne to tie the game at 1-1.
Carlton finished the inning and started the ninth by allowing a double and a single to give Tech runners on the corners. Martin pulled Carlton, inserted Alec Byrd and opted to pitch to Ryan Flick with a base open.
Flick, who is batting .384 with a team-high 18 home runs and 70 RBI, hit a two-run double down the right-field line for a 3-1 lead.
TTU's Travis Moths, who entered in the seventh, closed the door in the ninth by getting two grounders and getting Nieporte to chase a ball for the game's final strikeout. Moths was flawless. He didn't allow a hit or a run in his three innings of work and struck out four of the nine batters he faced.
"Just be sure that they're not going to take this game to the ballpark tomorrow. It's over with," said Martin, when asked what he said to the team after the loss. "We've gotta be ready to go tomorrow."
As for UCF, the Knights opened the regional with a 7-4 loss to Auburn, which will face TTU on Saturday at 7 p.m.
FSU played UCF and swept both games in a series played in early March in Orlando.
Although the immediate thought shifts to FSU's regional exit in 2014, there's also what happened in 2008. FSU opened with a 7-0 loss to Bucknell but rallied to win the regional, then take two of three in the Super Regional against Wichita State to reach the College World Series.
Martin said FSU will start star sophomore left-handed pitcher Tyler Holton, who is 9-2 with a 2.43 ERA.
UCF will potentially start Chris Williams, who is 5-3 with a 2.43 ERA this season.
"Well, it's just something that we all know: It's a tough road," Martin said. "We've just got to trust each other and we've got pitchers that are ready. Holton will go tomorrow. Past that and no way I am going to sit here and say he's going here ... we're looking at tomorrow just like we were looking at today."
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