UNF hands FSU a wild 15-14 loss in 10 innings

Florida State’s miserable stretch found a new low on Wednesday night.

The Seminoles’ 10th pitcher of the game, in a tie game in the 10th inning, was shortstop Jordan Carrion — who hadn’t thrown in a game in 2023. Carrion got a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning but then bounced a curveball in the dirt, a few pitches after Colton Vincent blocked one, only this time the catcher couldn’t keep the ball in front of him and North Florida pulled out a 15-14 win.

FSU had the lead multiple times only to let it slip away, including in the eighth and 10th innings only to lose its seventh straight game. It was FSU’s third consecutive one-run loss and second straight loss in extra innings.

Cam Smith went 4 for 6 with five runs scored and three RBI, the most runs by a Seminole in a game since Taylor Walls in 2017.

Still, FSU (13-23) sunk to 10 games below .500. The Seminoles dropped to 3-14 in road games with one of the uglier nights of the season.

UNF scored seven runs in what was a nightmare eighth inning against four FSU relievers. The Seminoles countered with four runs in the ninth to tie the game at 12.

Smith led off the 10th with a solo home run and Connor Moore added a sacrifice fly to put FSU ahead 14-12. But in the bottom of the inning, Cherokee Nichols hit a two-run double to tie it up at 14 and he later scored on Carrion’s wild pitch.

It was the sixth FSU wild pitch of the night on a night where the pitchers also gave up eight walks and 15 hits.

The Seminoles pounded out 17 hits, with Smith and James Tibbs III leading the way with four each. Jaime Ferrer, pinch-hitter Connor Moore and Jordan Carrion had two hits.

FSU led 8-5 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, in part due to Smith’s two-run home run an inning earlier. But it all unraveled as Brandon Walker, David Barrett, Brett Barfield and Drake Flowers struggled to get outs. Smith had a throwing error and James Tibbs had another throwing error after corralling the overthrow and bouncing it toward Vincent at home plate, where the ball also got away.

FSU had three errors and now has 47 in 36 games.

This was the first time FSU scored more than five runs in a game since a March 17 win over Boston College. But it wasn’t enough.

FSU will play host to Virginia Tech in a three-game series beginning on Friday at 8 p.m. (ACC Network).