Hot start not enough for FSU baseball in weather-shortened loss to Pitt

The way the Florida State offense began Sunday's series finale, the Seminoles seemed poised for a sweep.

But after FSU put up five runs over its first two innings at the plate, the bats went quiet. The Seminoles (11-4, 2-1 in ACC) managed just one run over their final six innings at the plate.

With FSU trailing 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, lightning delayed the game and eventually caused it to end prematurely. The Seminoles failed to sweep Pittsburgh (8-8, 1-2), coming up short of a sweep to start conference play.

"This was a game that we had opportunities and we gave them some chances to work their way right back into the game and take the lead in the game. They did absolutely that..." FSU head coach Link Jarrett said. "Pitt cashed in on every one of our miscues."

The Panthers, who managed five total runs in the first two games of the weekend series, took the lead for good in a three-run sixth inning, breaking a 6-6 tie on a two-run home run by leadoff hitter Kyle Hess off Andrew Armstrong.

Ryan Denison, who put the eventual winning run on base, was tagged with his second loss of the season, falling to 1-2.

The FSU bats got started early as James Tibbs II and Jaime Ferrer hit back-to-back homers in the first inning. Nander De Sedas added a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to help FSU retake a 5-2 lead.

Of FSU's eight hits over the first three innings at the plate, six of them were extra-base hits (three home runs, three doubles).

From there, though, the Seminoles managed just three hits over the next five innings before the game was called.

FSU's best chance to claw back into the game came in the bottom of the seventh when Ferrer and Cam Smith singled with two outs. However, a groundout to second base from Ben Barrett which deflected off the pitcher's glove ended the threat in FSU's last full inning at the plate.

Ferrer accounted for a good chunk of FSU's offense, going 4 for 4 in four plate appearances with a home run, two doubles, a single, two runs batted in and one run.

Montgomery grinds it out

It was far from the smoothest outing from FSU's Sunday starter Carson Montgomery. A week after he was shelled for seven runs, all earned, in 2.1 innings against FGCU, Montgomery again struggled in his first few innings of work against the Panthers.

Pitt tagged Montgomery for two runs in both the second and third innings. With FSU's bullpen depth in question entering the series finale, that would have been a major problem had he made another early exit.

From there, though, he buckled down a bit, retiring seven straight batters between the third and fifth innings. He nearly got through the fifth inning with FSU's 5-4 lead intact, but issued a two-out walk and then allowed a double to left field which tied the game.

While Montgomery made it through five full innings for the second time this season, it was a struggle for him to do so. He had a season-high eight strikeouts, but was tagged for five runs, all earned, on four hits with three walks and a hit-by-pitch.

After Montgomery allowed two earned runs over nine innings in his first two starts, he's been hit for 12 earned runs in his last two starts, raising his ERA to 7.71.

"Carson, there were flashes for sure. He could not consistently string pitches together..." Jarrett said. "They did barrel some balls and they cashed in when he gave them the opportunity to earn it via the base on balls."

Armstrong relieved Denison and threw the final 2.1 innings, striking out four batters and allowing just one run on one hit.

Overall, FSU's pitching staff struck out 13 Pitt batters, but also issued five walks.

"Pitch execution, the fundamental basis for what we talk about, we did not manage that well," Jarrett said, "We'll go back and look at the game, but the inability to get the ball to the correct half of the plate in some cases allowed them to have opportunities via the base on balls and the hit-by-pitch."

Up Next

Next week, FSU has its only five-game week currently scheduled for the regular season. The Seminoles play two games at UCF Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Wednesday at 4 p.m. and then host Boston College for a three-game set starting Friday at 6 p.m.