Gutsy effort from Armstrong, new approach from Hults help FSU stay alive in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. — When a Florida State pitcher uses fastballs to effectively control a game, it’s usually staff ace Jamie Arnold, who throws primarily in the mid-90s and can crank it even higher than that.

Senior Andrew Armstrong is not considered a power arm by any stretch of the imagination — especially not while laboring through an injury like he was on Tuesday — and reliever Connor Hults is a curveball specialist who has gone through complete appearances without throwing a heater.

Yet with Florida State’s season on the line here Tuesday afternoon, it was Armstrong and Hults who somehow handcuffed North Carolina for most of nine inning, both throwing fastballs that wouldn’t intimidate some high school hitters.

They didn’t strike out many — just three UNC batters combined — but they teamed up to allow just three runs in 8 2/3 innings as Florida State rolled to a 9-5 victory in an elimination game at the College World Series.

“It was probably the biggest component in my outing today — being able to locate the fastball in any count was new to my game,” Hults said.

“Probably 10 times more fastballs than he’s thrown all season,” Florida State pitching coach Micah Posey said of the junior left-hander. “So for him to do that on this stage … for him to do that in Omaha was pretty special.”

For most of this season, Hults has relied heavily on his highly effective off-speed pitches. But with teams starting to sit on those breaking balls and not even worrying about his fastball, Posey asked Hults to mix things up on Tuesday.

And Hults executed the plan to perfection, often getting ahead in the count by sneaking fastballs by North Carolina’s hitters. The 5-foot-11 junior college transfer pitched an FSU career-high 4 1/3 innings and kept the Tar Heels scoreless while recording his third victory of the season.

“When I was able to locate some fastballs and then expand on my off-speed when needed, it definitely worked in our favor,” Hults said.

Because he hadn’t pitched more than 3 1/3 innings in a game all season and with the Seminoles building a late four-run lead, Hults had a feeling Florida State coach Link Jarrett might look to turn the game over to another reliever in the ninth.

But Hults immediately addressed that when he came off the field following the eighth inning.

“We were going to the ninth, he comes in the dugout after that: ‘Don’t even think about it.’ There were some other words mixed in there,” Jarrett said. “I’m so happy for him.”

Armstrong’s overall numbers weren’t quite as flashy, but he played an equally important role. And he did it despite battling through an oblique injury that caused him to grimace and grunt while throwing many pitches, and also dropped his fastball velocity from 90-91 mph to the low- to mid-80s.

“It hasn’t bothered me in a while, but it flared up today pretty bad,” Armstrong said, explaining that it’s an injury that slowed him during the fall. “I was just trying to throw strikes, get ahead with the way the wind is blowing in today. Sometimes that’s all have you to do.”

Armstrong felt and looked fine during the first inning, but he started experiencing pain and tightness while sitting in the dugout between that frame and the next.

When he went out to warm up for the second, FSU’s coaches immediately noticed that his fastball was essentially the same speed of his usual change-up. Jarrett and the Seminoles’ athletic trainer went out to the mound to evaluate Armstrong, and they eventually allowed him to stay in the game.

The decision paid off, as Armstrong kept North Carolina off the scoreboard for three of the first four innings as FSU built a 7-1 lead.

“Just to see him come out here and give it his all, is something I’ll never forget,” Florida State right-fielder James Tibbs said. “He’s had some tough things that have happened to him this year, things not go his way, some calls not go his way. But man, he’s just continued to compete. He was ready when his number was called, and what a gutsy performance for sure. That’s fantastic to watch.”

No one on the field knew how much Armstrong was hurting better than his catcher, Jaxson West.

“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever played with,” West said. “And he really wasn’t feeling too well today, but he gutted it out for us. That’s who he is and what he does. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

The injury wasn’t the only thing Armstrong had to overcome.

After a series of sub-par performances in April and May, the senior was kept on the shelf for more than three weeks. And even though he understood the coaches’ decision, that doesn’t mean sitting out was easy.

Instead of sulking, however, Armstrong leaned on the encouragement of teammates and coaches, who assured him he would get at least one more chance before his Florida State career was over.

That opportunity knocked on Tuesday in Omaha.

“Those guys have been picking up for me all year when I’ve been struggling,” Armstrong said. “So it felt good to be able to do that for them today.”

“Sometimes with older guys, if you don’t get innings, you start to question, ‘Am I a part of this?'” Posey said. “So for him, we talked about, ‘There’s gonna be a legacy game,’ and a chance for unsung heroes this late in the tournament. Surely, I think that’s an outing we’ll talk about for a long time.”

Florida State, which is assured of being one of the final four teams remaining in this College World Series, will face Tennessee on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET. The Seminoles will have to beat the Volunteers twice to advance to the CWS championship round, while the Volunteers need one more victory to move on.

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