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No. 16 Florida State Baseball rallies in 13th, knocks off USF, 7-6

On3 imageby:Ira Schoffel•03/01/23•

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Florida State second baseman Nander De Sedas swings earlier this season for the Seminoles. (Gene Williams/Warchant)

Florida State’s first game in 2023 as a nationally ranked team wasn’t necessarily a thing of beauty, but it ended with another win.

Link Jarrett’s No. 16 Seminoles returned home Wednesday after an impressive series victory at then-No. 8 TCU and needed 13 innings — and a three-run rally in their final at-bat — to knock off visiting USF.

Senior second baseman Nander De Sedas’ double with two outs drove in the final two runs as the Seminoles pulled out the 7-6 victory.

Florida State and USF were tied at 4-4 from the eighth inning through the 12th inning until the Bulls scored two runs in the top half of the 13th on four hits off the FSU bullpen.

Then the Seminoles (7-1) did their damage in the bottom half.

“He’s an experienced guy, and we need his experience and leadership,” Jarrett said of De Sedas. “When we get moments to go perform and execute and lead by example, we need our older guys to do it. And he did that today. And he’s had some key moments for us [this season].”

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Box Score: No. 16 FSU 7, USF 6 (13 innings)

After Florida State fell behind 6-4 in the top of the 13th, sophomore Treyton Rank drew a one-out walk and scored on an RBI triple by shortstop Jordan Carrion. Then with runners at the corners and two outs, De Sedas came through with the game-winning hit.

Florida State actually jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, thanks in large part to James Tibbs’ two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Seminoles scored just one more run against the Bulls (3-6) until the 13th.

FSU used six pitchers on the night and they combined to strike out 21 batters, but it was junior Andrew Armstrong who faced only one batter — and struck him out in the 13th — that picked up the win.

The biggest pitching performances, though, might have come from star relievers Wyatt Crowell and Conner Whittaker. Crowell allowed one run while striking out six in three innings, and Whittaker allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings.

The Seminoles won’t likely use both of their top relievers in many games this season, but Jarrett said he wanted to give his team every opportunity to come out on top.

“I felt like when we had a chance to win a very tough game, we needed to do what we needed to do to win that game,” he said. “And then look to the next one when it comes. … We felt like that game was right there for us.”

Freshman left-hander Jamie Arnold pitched three innings in a controlled start and allowed no hits or runs while recording four strikeouts.

De Sedas, Carrion and Rank led Florida State with two hits apiece, and De Sedas led the team with 3 RBIs; he also drove in a run in the sixth inning.

Florida State will continue its home stand with a three-game series this weekend against Florida Gulf Coast.

INJURY NOTES: Jarrett confirmed that freshman center fielder DeAmez Ross, who injured a finger while bunting last weekend at TCU, will miss this weekend’s series. He did not play on Sunday or Wednesday, and Jarrett said there is no definitive time frame on Ross’ return.

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