Dorsey Delivers! Junior lifts FSU past Stetson, 7-2, with brilliant effort in NCAA Regional

Link Jarrett took a calculated risk asking Carson Dorsey to start the first game of Florida State’s NCAA Regional on Friday, and the junior left-hander responded by delivering the best performance of his career.

Not only did Dorsey pitch a season-high 8 2/3 innings, but he held the Stetson Hatters in check all afternoon en route to a 7-2 victory. Dorsey allowed just two runs (one earned) while scattering nine hits; he struck out seven and walked one while throwing 121 pitches.

“This guy was in control of the game,” Jarrett said of Dorsey. “When he walked out there, we could tell he had very good stuff. I thought the command of the stuff got better as he continued to pitch. I thought the fourth inning, the fifth inning when he started to establish the change-up was a turning point in the start for him.”

Dorsey very nearly finished with a complete game, but once his 121st pitch was singled into right field with two outs, Jarrett made the move to senior lefty Brennen Oxford, who closed things out with a strikeout.

The call to the bullpen elicited some groans from the Dick Howser Stadium crowd of 4,153, but those fans quickly rose to their feet to give Dorsey his third of four standing ovations. They showered him with applause after he retired three straight batters in the eighth inning, then again when he came back out for the ninth. Dorsey’s final ovation came after a curtain call in the ninth.

“He threw 20 pitches in relief on Friday of last week and 40 pitches in the ACC Championship Game (on Sunday),” Jarrett said. “We felt like once we passed 120 (pitches), we felt like that was enough for him today.”

With the victory, Florida State (43-15) advances to the winners’ bracket of the Tallahassee Regional and will face UCF, which defeated Alabama in the late game Friday, 8-7.

Florida State got things going early on offense with solo home runs from Max Williams in the first inning and Daniel Cantu in the second.

The Seminoles then expanded their lead to 5-1 in the middle innings on an RBI single by Jaime Ferrer and a two-run double from Alex Lodise. In reality, Lodise’s hit should have been a routine fly ball, but Stetson’s left fielder lost it in the afternoon sun.

BOX SCORE: FSU 7, Stetson 2

Stetson cut the Seminoles’ lead to 5-2 in the top of the sixth when FSU second baseman Drew Faurot had his own battle with the elements. A high pop-up got caught in the wind and drifted on him, and the ball ended up popping out of Faurot’s glove, allowing a runner to score from third.

Florida State then added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh after loading the bases with no outs. Cantu drove one run in with a ground ball fielder’s choice, and Lodise drove in the second with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.

Jarrett made the decision to start Dorsey to save ace Jamie Arnold for Saturday’s Game 2.

The decision was questioned by some given the fact that Dorsey had struggled in his two appearances at last week’s ACC Tournament. The junior gave up four runs without recording an out in last Friday’s game against Virginia and then gave up four runs in one inning two days later against Duke in the title game.

But Jarrett said he had a feeling the junior college transfer would bounce back well, because he had done it after tough outings earlier this season.

“He’s a tough guy,” Jarrett said. “And we knew that. And it was time for him to deliver. And we’ve seen him deliver when we’ve needed it before. He’s pitched well against some really, really good teams and probably had his best performance of the year today. … It was in his hands, and he absolutely delivered the goods.”

Dorsey, who improved to 6-4 on the season, was grateful to get the opportunity.

“It means a lot, that they still have trust in me after a couple bad outings,” the left-hander said. “I knew that I had the stuff to be able to do that.”

Alabama and Stetson will square off in an elimination game at noon on Saturday, while the Seminoles and Knights will play at 5 p.m. The game will be a battle between Jarrett and his former assistant coach at FSU and Notre Dame, Rich Wallace, who is in first year at UCF.

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