Pollock sharp as FSU Baseball finishes off sweep of Troy
The Florida State pitching staff obviously won't be as good without Tyler Holton.
You don't lose an All-American ace and get better.
But if this weekend is any indication -- granted, it's a small sample size against a non-ACC opponent -- the Seminoles' starting rotation still has a chance to be very good.
Freshman left-hander Austin Pollock got the first start of his career on Sunday and responded with a six-inning, five-hit, one-earned-run performance as the Seminoles cruised to a 9-4 victory and a sweep of Troy.
"I've got to be honest with you," FSU head coach Mike Martin said. "The guy's a lot different than I thought he would be. I thought he would come over in the fall and be a little bit intimidated. I have not seen any of that.
"He pitched well. He pitched with poise. He had a couple of opportunities to feel sorry for himself, to fold the tent. He kept battling. ... He threw the ball very well."
Pollock took the place of Friday night starter Holton in the rotation as veterans Cole Sands and Drew Parrish each moved up one day. And while Pollock is not going to be as dominant as the fellow Tallahassee native Holton -- not yet anyway -- he was still plenty impressive on Sunday.
"It was definitely a dream come true," Pollock said of his first career start. "Growing up, coming to all the games, it was definitely a blessing. Something I'll remember the rest of my life."
Pollock walked just one. He recorded seven ground-ball outs. Struck out three. And seemed to be in complete command the entire time. Even with a rain delay of 1 hour and 18 minutes after the second inning.
The stage wasn't too big.
He was calm and composed.
Just like Holton was two years ago as a freshman.
"I feel like I got all my nerves out the last game," said Pollock, who pitched four innings of relief last weekend. "It's still baseball. Just because the stage is a little bigger, you're still playing baseball."
Florida State is now 7-0 on the season. Thanks in large part to the starting staff.
Through seven games, the FSU starters have combined to allow just five earned runs in 39 innings pitched.
In the weekend series against Troy, the new Seminoles rotation -- which was forced into action following Holton's season-ending elbow injury -- allowed just two earned runs in 17.1 innings pitched.
"I thought they passed the test," Martin said. "I think they'll have exams coming up when we start our conference play. But I certainly do like an awful lot of arms on this baseball team."
Florida State's offense scored five runs in the second inning -- five consecutive hitters drove in a run -- and then three more in the seventh to blow it open. Sophomore J.C. Flowers' two-run double was the big hit of the inning. He finished the day with two hits and 3 RBIs.
Jackson Lueck was the only other FSU hitter with multiple hits.
Florida State plays again Tuesday at Jacksonville. Andrew Karp (1-0, 0.00 ERA in 6.1 IP) will get the start on the mound for the Seminoles.
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