Section B Online

Tuesday March 25, 2008

	AT BAT			BALL					STRIKE					OUT						H/E
		3			3					2					2					H
			1	2	3	4	5	6		7	8	9	10			RUNS		HITS			E
Stetson			0	0	0	0	0	2		0	0	0					2		6		0
FSU			0	2	1	0	1	0		2	5	X				1	1	1	5		2

Seminoles roll over Stetson

by FSU Sports Info

Florida State (20-2) ran its win streak to eight straight over Stetson (11-12) with an 11-2 victory over the Hatters Tuesday night at Dick Howser Stadium. The Seminoles pounded out 15 hits reaching the double-digit hit mark for the 19th time in 22 games. Tony Delmonico tied a career-high with five RBIs, while Jack Rye registered three hits for the second straight game and set a career-high with four runs scored.

Freshman Mike McGee ran his record to 3-1 on the year as he gave the Seminoles seven strong innings to tie a career-high. The right hander from Port St. Lucie, Fla., allowed just one hit through the first five innings and at point retired eight straight Stetson hitters. McGee finished the game allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.

“I was happy that I was able to throw my change up for strikes today,” said McGee. “I am definitely gaining a lot more confidence after each start and feeling a lot more comfortable out there.”

Five Seminole hitters finished the game with at least two hits as Rye led all hitters with three. Jason Stidham, Buster Posey, Delmonico and Luke Smierciak each registered a pair of hits.

“It was a big win for us,” added Delmonico. “We put together some quality at-bats and that’s what you have to do against a quality opponent like Stetson. Up and down the line-up we’re tough. We are going to be tough throughout the year and that’s a credit to this ball club. There is no easy out in our line-up which is neat to have on a team.”

“It was a good baseball game,” said head coach Mike Martin. “It was a close game. We scored eight runs in the last four innings. It’s a credit to our young men for having some very good at-bats. Tony Delmonico had a big night for us and Mike McGee pitched very well. I am very proud of the poise that he showed. It was a game that I liked to see. We did some things that I’ve been waiting for us to do. I am very proud of the way our guys played tonight.”

The Seminoles jumped out to an early two-run lead in the bottom of the second. Tommy Oravetz got things started with a single to center and moved to third on a double down the right field line by Ohmed Danesh. Jack Posey, making his fourth straight start at third, drove home Oravetz on a groundout to third. Tyler Holt made the score 2-0 with a two-out RBI single up the middle to drive home Danesh.

In the third, Delmonico drove home the first of his five runs doubling to right center to score Rye. Rye led off the inning with a double down the line in left for his third two bagger of the season.

Florida State pushed its lead to 4-0 on a sacrifice fly by Delmonico in the fifth. Rye reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on a walk by Dennis Guinn and advance to third on a wild pitch. He scored a batter later on Delmonico’s team-leading third sacrifice fly of the season.

Stetson finally managed a couple runs off McGee in the top of the sixth thanks to a two-run homer off the bat of Justin Bass. Josh Davis led off the inning with an infield single and came around to score on Bass’ sixth round tripper of the season. McGee left a pitch up in the zone and the Hatter center fielder made him pay lifting a fly ball over the fence in right to cut the Seminole lead in half at 4-2.

The Seminoles answered with a pair of runs in the seventh to increase their lead to 6-2. The first two batters reached on a Buster Posey walk and a single to center by Rye. After Guinn executed a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base, the Hatters countered by intentionally walking Delmonico to load the bases with one out. McGee stepped into the batter’s box for the first time on Tuesday and helped his own cause with an RBI fielder’s choice groundout. Smierciak capped the scoring in the seventh as he laced a two-out RBI single to center to score Rye.

In the eighth, Florida State added some insurance with five more runs to bring the score to 11-2. Buster Posey collected an RBI single but the inning belonged to Delmonico as he wiped the bases clean with a three-run double. The five RBIs were the most for Delmonico in a Seminole uniform while it tied his previous career-high set against Mississippi back on April 29, 2006 when he was freshman at Tennessee. On the play, Rye scored his fourth run of the game surpassing his previous career-high of three set five other times.

Jimmy Marshall and Tyler Everett pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Both pitchers threw a scoreless inning in relief as Marshall set the side in order with a pair of strikeouts and a line out to short. Everett faced five batters and allowed just one hit.

Florida State will return to the diamond for game two against Stetson on Wednesday, March 26. First pitch for the second and final game is scheduled for 6:00 pm on Mike Martin Field inside Dick Howser Stadium. Wednesday’s game will be shown live on FSN Florida, while fans can listen to the action on 1270 the Team with Eric Luallen providing all the play-by-play action.

Click here for a complete boxscore

Section B Online Player of the Game:
Tony Delmonico
(2-3, 1 R, 5 RBI, 2 2B, BB, SF)