Florida State 2 — Coastal Carolina 1 (Game Summary)
- Most fans in Tallahassee expected the #1-Florida State vs. #2-Coastal Carolina game to be a winner’s bracket matchup, not an elimination game. But after losses to St. John’s and Northern Illinois, that was the reality
- A magnificent pitching duel between Coastal Carolina right-hander Cameron Flukey and Florida State ace Wes Mendes was disrupted by rain with one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the fourth inning. Prior to the two-and-a-half-hour delay, Mendes had allowed one run on two hits with 8 K’s and one walk on just 51 pitches in four innings. Meantime, Flukey had gotten CCU into the middle innings with a 1-0 lead. The junior RHP held the Seminoles scoreless on just two hits with three strikeouts. However, the delay, coupled with his 60 pitches, was too much for CCU to risk running the New Jersey native back out to the mound to finish the bottom of the fourth
- When play resumed, Darin Horn replaced Flukey and allowed the tying run to score on a two-out RBI double by Nathan Cmeyla to make it 1-1 going into the fifth
- In the bottom of the fifth, Cal Fisher hit his third home run of the season, giving the Seminoles a 2-1 lead. The fly ball must have seeded the clouds, as prior to the start of the sixth inning, the game entered its second weather delay at 6:11pm
- Following another two-and-a-half-hour delay, NCAA officials announced that the game would be postponed until Sunday morning with Florida State leading 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning
- Sunday’s Resumption: When play resumed just after 11am on Sunday, both pitching staffs did the job. CCU was limited to just one hit and no runs during the final five innings of the game, which included the three innings played on Sunday. All told, the Chanticleers were held to three hits by three different FSU pitchers while striking out a season-high eighteen times
- Meantime, Florida State didn’t fare much better against the CCU bullpen, as the Seminoles mustered just three hits over the course of the final three innings.
- The Seminoles will play another elimination game later today against the loser of the St. John’s/Northern Illinois winner’s bracket matchup
- Coastal Carolina concludes its season at 37-23, and now all eyes will be on head coach Kevin Schnall, who is reportedly a serious candidate for the vacant South Carolina head coaching position