For the last five innings on Saturday, Florida State was held without a run. It didn’t hurt the Seminoles then.

For the first four innings on Sunday, FSU was again held without a run and to just a single. This time, the Seminoles put together a massive inning. And it hurt UCF.

Cam Smith smacked a two-run homer to right-center field to charge up a nine-run fifth inning as the Seminoles routed the Knights 12-4 to claim the Tallahassee Regional title.

Smith’s home run was his second in as many nights and the 111th for FSU in 2024, moving the team into fifth on the single-season home run list. Jaime Ferrer added a two-run double and Jackson West a two-run single, setting up the biggest shot: Max Williams’ three-run shot to center field as the Seminoles put up more runs than in any single inning this season.

"What we do best as a team is respond," West said of the remarkable fifth inning. "Coach (Link Jarrett) has said that time and time again to the media. I don't think we really flinch. It was tough because they did such a good job executing on the mound but that's what we do is we respond. That's our identity."

FSU (45-15) will play host to the Connecticut-Oklahoma winner in a best-of-three Super Regional that will begin on Friday or Saturday. Exact dates, times and TV information is to be determined.

Regardless of who makes the trip to Tallahassee, FSU is hosting a Super Regional for the first time since 2017. The Seminoles are seeking their first trip to Omaha since 2019, during Mike Martin Sr.’s “One Last Run.”

And while the performance over three days was far from perfect in a micro sense, the big picture is FSU outscored its opponents by a combined 24-8. And with 45 wins, the Seminoles have nearly doubled the 23-victory total from Link Jarrett’s first season in 2023.

"This is great — I expected to do this," FSU coach Link Jarrett said. "This is what I wanted to do. It’s not easy. We talk about this all fall, all spring, into the season. To perform consistently with athletic, talented players, gives you an opportunity to sit where we’re sitting right now. that’s what this is about. Last year, it was what it was. Not much we can do. Zero we can do. This is the attention-getter now. And I’m proud. It’s about them. They went and did this. We helped get them here. They went and performed and executed."

Jarrett also has helped guide the Seminoles to one of the best storylines in the sport in 2024 after perhaps one of the biggest turnarounds in recent memory for a contending team. And the Seminoles are in this position: One year after FSU didn’t even qualify for the 12-team ACC Tournament, the Seminoles are now two wins from the CWS.

FSU often leaned on its pitching to make a 3-0 run through the regional. In what was considered among the nation’s toughest four-team brackets, Alabama was quickly dispatched in two games and UCF took care of Stetson in the early game Sunday. And later that night, FSU knocked off a Knights team that was viewed as having a deep and talented pitching staff.

Conner Whittaker didn’t deliver a performance that rivaled Carson Dorsey’s (8.2 innings, one earned run) or Jamie Arnold’s (seven innings, two earned runs) but it was more than good enough to set the table.

Jack Zyska hit a two-run homer in the first inning for UCF (37-21), but Whittaker settled in. He had a 1-2-3 second inning, stranded two runners in the third and had a 1-2-3 fourth inning. Whittaker threw four innings (61 pitches) in his longest appearance since returning from injury.

Connor Hults also ran into some trouble, giving up a run in the sixth and another in seventh but ate up three innings as FSU held a comfortable lead.

John Abraham hit a batter but pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Joe Charles closed out the game with a scoreless ninth to preserve the win.

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