From basically the onset of Sunday's rubber match at Louisville, the Florida State baseball team was behind the eight-ball.
The Seminoles were in a 5-0 hole in the bottom of the first inning on a trio of home runs before they had even recorded an out.
While FSU put up a fight in moments, that big early hole proved to be too much to overcome and the game really got away from FSU late. The fourth-ranked Seminoles (31-9, 12-6 in ACC) dropped their second straight game and the weekend series to the No. 19 Cardinals (30-13, 12-9) in a 14-2 loss on Sunday at Jim Patterson Field in Louisville.
FSU starter Wes Mendes had allowed three home runs in 44.2 innings this season entering Sunday's start. Facing the Cardinals, he allowed three home runs in the first five batters faced, walking the other two to allow each of the first five batters he faced.
While Louisville batted around in a 44-pitch first inning against Mendes, the FSU starter actually settled in pretty well from there. He allowed no runs, no hits and just two walks over the next four innings on 45 pitches.
Mendes was pulled after a leadoff walk in the sixth and ended up allowing six runs, all earned, over five innings, suffering his second loss of the season. However, his response after a horrific start gave the Seminoles a chance to play their way back into the game.
Unfortunately for FSU, the offense was not to that task. The Seminoles created plenty of chances, putting at least one runner on base in each of their first five innings on Sunday.
For the second straight day, however, only Alex Lodise was able to come through in clutch situations for the Seminoles. His two-run double in the third inning was the team's only hit with a runner on base, going hitless in nine at-bats with runners on base and six at-bats with runners in scoring position otherwise.
Lodise finished the Louisville series with seven hits, six RBI and four extra-base hits, but the rest of the FSU lineup had a combined one RBI over the final two games of the series.
While Mendes settled things down, things really got away from the Seminoles when they had to go to the bullpen. The Cardinals plated two runs in the sixth off Peyton Prescott and then seven more off Prescott and John Abraham in the seventh, turning what was a 5-2 game in the sixth inning into a 14-2 win, which Lucas Moore ended with a walk-off grand slam, his second home run of the day.
Up Next
FSU has no midweek game this week due to final exams. The Seminoles will return to action on Friday with a three-game series vs. Clemson, which was No. 2 in the D1Baseball rankings this week but is coming off being swept at NC State.
