Canes Spoil Celebration In Tallahassee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State had a special postgame ceremony planned for head coach Mike Martin, who was in search of the NCAA Division I wins record Sunday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
But rival Miami crashed the garnet-and-gold party, capturing an 11-5 win and prolonging the Seminoles’ skipper’s search for at least one more game.
The Hurricanes salvaged their annual series with the 14th-ranked Seminoles in front of 5,377 fans, most of whom were hoping to witness Martin’s 1,976th win as head coach of the Seminoles.
But Florida State (31-14, 13-10 ACC) will have to wait at least five more days, thanks to a surge by the Miami offense in the middle innings and a career day from freshman Isaac Quinones.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Quinones erased the deficit with the first home run of his career over the fence in right on an opposite-field, three-run shot.
With a newfound lead, the Hurricanes proceeded to score seven runs over the next three innings to seal the win in the finale.
Quinones, who recorded a career-high five RBI in the win, keyed an offense that out-hit the Seminoles 13-8 on the afternoon.
Freshman Dylan Cloonan reached five times (two hits, three walks) and two other Hurricanes recorded multi-hit performances.
“Some of the freshmen got some big hits for us today that we hadn’t been getting,” head coach Jim Morris said. “It was a big win for us. It’s tough to win at Florida State, and Mike Martin has done a great job for a long, long time.
“It’s good to get a win here.”
Not to be outdone, junior Andrew Cabezas delivered another quality start on the mound for the visitors.
The fiery righthander, who surrendered three runs in the second inning to see an early 1-0 Miami lead slip away, rebounded with a stellar stretch while the Hurricanes (18-25, 11-13 ACC) came alive at the plate.
Cabezas (5-4) scattered five hits and five walks over seven innings. He allowed three runs – all in the second – with two strikeouts, working his way out of damage in a 115-pitch outing.
Florida State made things interesting with a pair of runs in the ninth, but with the bases loaded, junior Frankie Bartow retired Drew Mendoza on a flyout to end the game.
“I think the strength of our team is pitching, and in particular, starting pitching,” Morris said. “Our bullpen I think is pretty solid, we just have to get those guys scoring runs.”
Miami jumped out to an early lead to chase Florida State junior Andrew Karp, who was battling illness heading into the start. Senior Michael Burns singled, junior Danny Reyes was hit by a pitch and a walk from Cloonan loaded the bases to prompt the pitching change in the second inning.
Seminoles reliever Jonah Scolaro entered and allowed a sacrifice fly to senior Hunter Tackett to put Miami on top, 1-0.
Karp lasted just 1.1 innings and 30 pitches before departing.
Scolaro (1-1) threw 3.0 innings in relief and kept the Hurricanes in check until the fifth, when Quinones put Miami back in the lead.
Scolaro allowed a single to freshman Freddy Zamora and hit freshman Tyler Paige with a pitch before Quinones belted a 2-1 ball over the tall fence in right for his first home run as a Hurricane, giving Miami a 4-3 lead.
The Hurricanes took advantage of some Florida State miscues to pad their lead with a four-run sixth.
A walk from Cloonan, a single from Tackett and an intentional walk to Zamora with one out loaded the bases to set up a potential double play ball. But the Hurricanes forced in two runs on bases-loaded walks drawn by Paige and Quinones.
Gonzalez added two runs on a sharply hit groundball to short that shortstop Mike Salvatore couldn’t handle, making it 8-3 in favor of the Hurricanes.
An RBI double from Raymond Gil and an RBI single from Quinones in the seventh pushed the Hurricanes’ lead to 10-3, and a passed ball in the eighth made it 11-3.
Bartow pitched the final two innings in relief of Cabezas to close out the win.
The Hurricanes return to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field Friday, May 4 for their series opener with Bethune-Cookman. First pitch for the contest, slated for broadcast on ACC Network Extra, is set for 7 p.m.
