What Sean Gilmartin saw when he watched a replay of Friday's Georgia-Ohio State NCAA Regional game was enough to make any freshman pitcher nervous. He watched Georgia blast seven home runs, two of them grand slams, against the Buckeyes in a 24-8 thrashing. And he knew that was the Georgia team he'd face Saturday.

That might terrify most freshman hurlers but, as Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress noted after Florida State's 8-2 win, Gilmartin has character beyond his years. The Seminoles' freshman ace threw a career-high nine innings, striking out six and quieting Georgia's prodigious bats.

As Gilmartin watched the Bulldogs pummel Ohio State, he noticed most of the balls leaving the park were left up in the strike zone.

Gilmartin's strategy was to do the opposite.

"Basically, my train of thought was to keep the ball down and use the off-speed pitch to my advantage down in the zone," Gilmartin said.

Gilmartin made one mistake in the game, leaving a pitch high in the strike zone for Poythress. Georgia's heavy hitter launched three homers against Ohio State and took Gilmartin's fourth-inning pitch over the right field fence for a two-run homer.

"I knew I missed the location," Gilmartin said. "As soon as he hit it, I knew it was gone. There was no point to doubt myself. I was pitching a pretty good ballgame up to that point, and I just had to step back, gather myself a little bit and go right after that next guy."

Not only he strike out designated hitter Joey Lewis to end the fourth, but he also got Poythress to strike out looking in his next at-bat in the seventh.

"He had good stuff and good composure," Poythress said. "He pitched well and he didn't pitch like a freshman, that's for sure."

Martin said the best way to describe Gilmartin's calmness and maturity in that situation was the simplest. Gilmartin is a baseball player, Martin said, a guy in control of his emotions.

"Baseball players have to be like an NBA guy that has driven into the lane and gets hammered, no whistle, and he has to have the guts to run back down the floor and play defense," Martin said. "In other words he showed great composure, and that's what baseball players do."

Gilmartin gave up just five hits over nine innings, allowing two runs, both earned, while walking none. The win was his 12th of the season and centerfielder Tyler Holt said that Gilmartin's age and relative experience meant nothing. The Seminoles know they'll get a big game from him when he pitches.

"Sean Gilmartin comes out there every day and when he pitches I feel extremely confident we're going to win that ball game," Holt said.

"When he steps on the mound, he's a bulldog. We knew he was going to be there."