'Nole Mercy! Florida State puts up historic numbers in 24-4 win over UConn in Game 1 of the Super Regionals
A program that has been nowhere near Omaha for the last five years is now just one win away from going back.
The Florida State Seminoles (46-15) used the long ball early and often and got enough quality pitching from Carson Dorsey and the bullpen to roll to a record-breaking 24-4 win over UConn in Game 1 of the Super Regionals on Friday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
It was the most runs ever scored by one team in Super Regional history and the biggest margin of victory. The previous record was a 21-2 win by No. 1 overall seed Arkansas over N.C. State in 2021 (notably, the Wolfpack went onto win that series over the Razorbacks).
The Seminoles will now try to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2019 when ace Jamie Arnold takes the mound against the Huskies on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET (ESPN).
If Arnold can get the same type of production — or anything close — that the FSU offense had on Friday, the Seminoles will be dog-piling on the Howser mound at some point on Saturday afternoon.
Marco Dinges started the party with a two-run homer to right in the first inning, Jaime Ferrer followed with a rocket-shot off the scoreboard in left and right away the Seminoles had themselves a 3-0 lead against the Huskies.
It was 5-0 the next inning when Max Williams hit a cloud-scraper of a two-run homer over the screen in right. And then, in the bottom of the third, Jaxson West delivered an RBI single and Cam Smith and James Tibbs added RBI walks to push the lead to 8-0.
That wound up being more than enough for Dorsey and Company.
The left-handed starter, coming off a 121-pitch, near-complete game in the Tallahassee Regional last weekend, went 5 1/3 innings on Friday in the blazing heat. He pitched in and out of trouble for much of the afternoon, wasn’t nearly as sharp as he had been a week ago, but gutted through 16 outs anyway while allowing just one run (on a bases-loaded walk).
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Alex Lodise delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth and then after the Huskies left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth — with back-to-back strikeouts by Florida State relievers Joe Charles and Connor Hults — the Seminoles immediately resumed the barrage.
Dinges was hit by a pitch and Ferrer launched his second homer of the game – a 418-foot line drive over the wall in dead center field – to make the score 11-1.
The Seminoles tacked on four more in the inning, on a wild pitch, a Smith infield single and a Tibbs’ two-run bloop single to center. It was the second hit of the game and the postseason for Tibbs, who has also drawn eight walks in the Seminoles’ four NCAA Tournament wins.
Florida State added nine more runs in the seventh on a McGwire Holbrook three-run double, a Tibbs’ bases-loaded walk, a Dinges’ two-run single and a DeAmez Ross three-run homer over the screen in right.
In total, the Seminoles’ offense had 24 runs, 18 hits, 15 walks, three hit-by-pitches, five homers and 36 total baserunners against UConn pitching.
The Huskies threw 226 pitches.
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