He's happy the streak is over, obviously.

And he knows how important beating Florida is for the Florida State fan base. Especially after 11 losses in a row.

But first-year FSU baseball coach Mike Martin Jr. wasn't ready to pop champagne after his Seminoles shut out the No. 1 Gators, 2-0, Tuesday night in Gainesville.

"It doesn't really matter," he said. "We've got to play better. That's what we've been saying. ... It doesn't matter who we're playing. That's what I'm trying like crazy to get them to understand. We haven't played well. And we've got to play better.

"So, you know, I told them: 'You guys don't realize how good you can be. And how good you're going to be.' Because they are going to be good. When we clean it up defensively and we do things that make sense at the plate, get used to certain things, the sky is the limit."

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The Seminoles are now 11-5 on the season and have won back-to-back games over Top 10 teams on the road.

They host Illinois State today (6 p.m., ACC Network) and then Georgia Tech for a three-game series this weekend. So, if they want to feel good about themselves, they don't really have much time to do it.

But while Martin Jr. wasn't about to book a flight to Omaha after Tuesday's game, the victory did show something that he's been saying since the preseason: His team can really pitch.

One day before the Florida game, Martin Jr. told Warchant he felt like this matchup with the Gators was the first time in many moons where the Seminoles could go arm for arm with them.

It turned out he only needed two.

Junior left-hander Antonio Velez pitched the first six innings and allowed just one hit. Freshman lefty Parker Messick then came on and pitched three innings of stellar relief, allowing two hits and no walks. The two combined for 14 strikeouts.

No Florida baserunner advanced past second base.

"They're wired differently," Martin Jr. said of his two lefties. "There are guys that shy away from environment and competition and people getting on you. And there are others that are like, 'Let's go. That's perfect. That's the way I like it.' And by the way, there are probably six guys down there in the pen, waiting, that we wouldn't hesitate to go to in a heartbeat.

"It is nice. And when I was talking to 11 (Mike Martin Sr.) tonight after the game, I just said I wish he had gotten to coach a (pitching) staff like this. Because, it's just pull them out of a hat. They can all pitch. They all care. And they're good at what they do."

At the same time, the Seminoles left 13 runners on base. And they struck out 15 times. So, the Florida State offense wasn't nearly as good as the pitching. But freshman Dylan Simmons went 3-for-4 with two doubles in his first ever start against the Gators. And sophomore Nander de Sedas came through with a sac fly in the eighth inning for a huge insurance run.

And the Florida State defense committed zero errors.

"Well, when you punch out 15 or whatever we punched out, it makes it a little easier (for the defense)," Martin Jr. said with a laugh. "But yeah, I mean, Jackson Greene took one off the chest. A bullet up the middle. And hung in there. Robbie Martin robbed a home run.

"Again, defense is everything. Pitching is everything. But when they go hand in hand, that's what you can do. It doesn't matter who you're playing. That's what you can do."

You can end an 11-game losing streak to a rival.

You can knock off the No. 1 team in the country.

You can hand the last unbeaten team in the nation it's first loss of 2020.

And when you're Florida State, you can enjoy the victory. Then move on.

The Seminoles were excited, of course, to finally get the win. But Martin Jr. was not going to allow them to make more of it than it actually is --- a midweek win in March.

"We won, all right, awesome," Martin Jr. said. "Now it's time to get rest. Get ready for (Illinois State) and continue to work on the things we're not doing well. That's the whole gist. We're going to be good at the end.

"That's what we care about."

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