'I'm gonna end it' ... James Tibbs calls his shot, sends FSU to Omaha with 3rd HR of day

After 11 innings of baseball in sweltering heat, James Tibbs III had seen enough.

Sitting in the shade of the Florida State dugout with the game tied — a combined 16 runs had been scored over the previous four hours, and neither team had the advantage — Tibbs looked at his teammates and coaches and told them it was time to end this.

Tibbs was due up third in the inning. And before he walked up to the on-deck circle, he called his shot to first baseman Daniel Cantu.

“I’m gonna end it right here,” Tibbs told him.

Did he ever.

After already hitting two home runs to keep his Seminoles in the game against a very pesky UConn squad, Tibbs blasted another in the top of the 12th inning — his third two-run homer of the day — to give Florida State a 10-8 lead.

Tibbs’ roommate, junior right-hander Connor Whittaker, then closed the door on the Huskies in the bottom of the inning to seal the victory, clinch the Tallahassee Super Regional and send FSU back to Omaha for the College World Series.

“That was just pure luck,” Tibbs laughed about his prognostication. “I was just confident. I was hoping that I got a pitch to hit, and luckily I did.”

Florida State’s players celebrated with a dog pile near the pitcher’s mound. Then they hugged and laughed as fans in the crowd of 5,518 chanted, “O-ma-ha! O-ma-ha!”

For Tibbs, Whittaker and other veterans on the Florida State roster, who have been through a lifetime’s worth of ups and downs during these past three years — seeing their former coaching staff fired in 2022 and then failing to make the postseason in ’23 — it had to be a surreal moment.

They started the season unranked. They battled through major injuries and painful losses. They were taken to the brink of Saturday’s Game 2 by a UConn team that stunned Oklahoma last weekend in the Norman, Okla., Regional.

And now they’re going to the College World Series.

One season after going 23-31, they now are 47-15.

“Words can’t really describe how thankful I am, how cool this is,” Tibbs said. “It’s been a pretty wild three years … but I think it’s perfect. It’s exactly how I’d want it to be.”

There were a slew of impressive individual performances for Florida State on Saturday.

Tibbs wasn’t alone.

Leadoff hitter Max Williams delivered three hits, including a home run, and scored two runs. Sophomore Cam Smith reached base four times on two hits and two walks. Marco Dinges and Jaxson West also blasted solo homers.

Sophomore Jamie Arnold battled for 121 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings on a sun-baked afternoon, and Whittaker allowed just one hit in 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief on the back end.

And then there was Tibbs, who went 5-for-6 with the three home runs and 6 RBIs.

“Tibbs is special,” UConn coach Jim Penders said. “He’s just so balanced. He was spitting on off-speed all day. We were trying to sneak a fastball by him there; it’s like sneaking cheese past a mouse, it’s tough to do. He didn’t miss it. It was not exactly where we wanted it, but he did not miss it.

“And he’s as balanced and as good a hitter as I’ve seen in my 21 years as a head coach.”

It's James Tibbs world and we're all just living in it!!!!!

The first Nole since 2010 with a 3-HR game!

T12 | FSU 10, UConn 8 pic.twitter.com/yAT8g75X7A

— FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) June 8, 2024

Long after the game ended, Tibbs’ voice cracked when asked about his jog out to right field for the bottom of the 12th inning.

Florida State’s fans in the right-field bleachers had given him a warm standing ovation.

The Seminoles were three outs away from making it back to the College World Series for the first time since 2019.

This was almost certainly the final time Tibbs would be playing in Dick Howser Stadium — he is expected to be a first-round pick in next month’s MLB Draft — and the FSU faithful wanted to show him their appreciation.

For his three excellent seasons, including being named ACC Player of the Year in 2024. For his heroic performance on Saturday. For the way he has represented the program.

And the whole time, all Tibbs could think about was how much he appreciated them and his journey.

Just like he did on Saturday, the Marietta, Ga., product called his shot when he signed with Florida State out of high school. He wanted to help get the Seminoles back to the top of the college baseball mountain.

It took a while to get there. But Tibbs delivered on that promise, too.

“It meant the world to me,” Tibbs said of the late ovation. “This place has given me the opportunity to play the game I love for a couple more years and allowed me to do it at the highest level. And allowed me to be a part of some amazing teams with some amazing guys. And that guy right there (slapping head coach Link Jarrett’s left shoulder), I couldn’t be more thankful for being able to be here. And just being able to be a part of putting Florida State Baseball back on the map.

“It’s been a wild ride. But I’ll never be able to thank enough people enough times for what they’ve done for me in these three years.”

*Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State baseball fans in the FSU Baseball Forum*