Link Jarrett savors first win as Florida State head coach: 'I'll never forget it'

Link Jarrett is used to winning at Dick Howser Stadium.

As a player in the 1990s, as an assistant coach in 2003 and even as the Notre Dame head coach a season ago, the Tallahassee native is quite accustomed to shaking hands and sharing smiles after games at Florida State.

So, in that regard, Friday was nothing new for Jarrett.

Except this time it was his Florida State team on the field, in front of a near-capacity crowd on Opening Day at Dick Howser Stadium. And it was his Florida State team that rolled to a 12-7 season-opening win over James Madison.

He hopes to win a whole bunch more games wearing the garnet and gold of his alma mater, of course, but there’s no doubt Friday felt special for the 51-year old Seminole.

“You know, it did,” Jarrett said. “You’re looking up in the crowd before the game and there are so many people that you know, that are pulling for you. And they’re pulling for the team, obviously. And then people that you’ve known for 20, 25 or 30 years are here That’s very unique.

“As things are winding down, throughout the course of the game, and you feel like you’re about to get your first win, it’s hard to put into words what it felt like to actually walk out here today … as the coach at Florida State and get into the game and that first (game) ball.”

Jarrett, who coached for seven years at UNC-Greensboro and three years at Notre Dame, is now 9-2 all time in season-opening games. And most importantly, he’s 1-0 in them as the Florida State head coach.

Thanks to a 12-run outburst by his offense.

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After starter Carson Montgomery allowed a double and a single to the first two batters of the game, the FSU defense turned a slick 3-6-1 double play to limit the damage.

And then the Seminoles’ bats went to work. Freshman DeAmaz Ross led off with a single, and then the Seminoles feasted on walks and wild pitches to take a 3-1 lead after one.

It was 7-1 two innings later.

The highlight was a freshman Cam Smith’s RBI triple off the centerfield fence, but it was the little things the Seminoles did well that really stood out. Moving runners over, getting sacrifice bunts down, putting the ball in play with a runner on third and less than two outs – the Florida State offense took advantage of just about every scoring opportunity it got in the first three innings.

Then, when the score got tight in the sixth, they took advantage of having one of the best lefty arms in the country. Wyatt Crowell came on with the bases loaded and the score 7-3 in the sixth, and after allowing an infield single to shortstop, he induced a double play to Smith at third to get out of the inning. Then induced another double play in the seventh.

Crowell pitched another scoreless inning in the eighth, showing why Jarrett likes him so much in high-leverage, late-game situations. Crowell was credited with the win.

“He was dynamic,” Jarrett said of the lefty. “He took control of the game.”

*ALSO SEE: ‘A whole new Florida State Baseball’ … How Link Jarrett is making his mark on alma mater

The Seminoles then finally scored again in the bottom of the eighth when freshman leadoff hitter DeAmez Ross drove in two with his third hit of the night. Jordan Carrion then drove in two more with his third hit of the game a few moments later to officially break the game wide open.

James Madison scored three runs in the ninth, but the Seminoles had plenty of cushion to still put out the victory.

“You saw a little bit of everything in this game,” Jarrett said. “I wish we had been cleaner in some areas. JMU is tough. You could watch those at-bats, those guys are very competitive. They know what they’re doing. … It took all we had to handle this today.”

Jarrett came into Friday night with 262 career wins inside Dick Howser. He won 205 as a player from 1991 to 1994 and then won 54 as an assistant in 2003. He then came in last year with his Notre Dame team and won all three of those games, too.

But the 263rd was different. Clearly. Because No. 263 was No. 1 as the Florida State head coach.

The last time a person with a last name other than Martin won a game as the FSU baseball coach was on May 12, 1979, when Dick Howser’s Seminoles beat Memphis State 11-1 in the Metro Tournament semifinals.

Almost 44 years later, Jarrett’s name is now in the record books.

“I’ll never forget it,” he said. “And I’ll also never forget the effort by those guys. Those guys wanted to do this and they wanted to do it a very high level. They’re hungry. I’ll remember that feeling and that atmosphere.”

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