Mike Martin Jr. wasn't in a sentimental mood on Saturday following the first win of his head coaching career.
He was just happy his team played so much better than it had on Friday.
The Florida State Seminoles rebounded from a 3-1 loss to Niagara in the season-opener with a 24-4 win over the Purple Eagles. That evened the series at 1-1 with the rubber game coming at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
It was the first win of the season for the 2020 Seminoles and the first win of the Mike Martin Jr. Era. It was evident he cared much more about the former than the latter during his postgame press conference.
"I couldn't care less," Martin Jr. said. "It was nice that Chip (Baker) gave me a game ball for my first win. I handed it to (FSU sports information director Steven McCartney) and told him to put it back in the ball bucket.
"It was a good ball."
So, no, the new FSU head coach isn't much on sentimentality.
He's more worried about the mentality of his players. And for the most part, he liked what he saw from them on Saturday as they steamrolled the Purple Eagles by 20 runs.
Elijah Cabell, Tyler Brewer, Dylan Simmons and Carter Smith all had two hits on the day. Smith hit the first homer of the season for the Seminoles - a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Cabell also had four RBIs. Brewer had three.
All told, the Seminoles had 14 hits and 14 walks and also got hit by five pitches. It was a staggering turnaround from Friday night, when the Seminoles only had three hits and none left the infield.
"The highs can't be too high and the lows can't be too low," Martin Jr. said. "We had some big hits there early and I was proud of them. Learn and grow together. That's our motto."
Seven different pitchers got work for the Seminoles.
Martin Jr. said he was most impressed with freshman Parker Messick, who got the win with one strikeout and no hits in one inning of work.
The new head coach will look for career win No. 2 and season win No. 2 on Sunday in the series finale against Niagara, which had just five hits on the afternoon.
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