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OMAHA, Neb. – Off the bat, Mike McGee
couldn’t even bear to look.
Florida State’s junior closer had just thrown what he admitted was a
mistake pitch – a slider that slipped out of his hand – and Florida’s
Mike Zunino ripped it towards the left field gap, a shot that would have
scored two runs, maybe more.
It wasn’t until McGee heard the “pop” of
the ball in Stephen Cardullo’s glove – and then saw Cardullo’s flip to
Devon Travis to complete the game-ending double play – that McGee and
the Seminoles could exhale and celebrate their 8-5 victory over Florida.
The victory marked Florida State’s first at Rosenblatt Stadium since
2000, and sent the No. 3 national seed Gators crashing out of the
College World Series. FSU will meet the loser of tonight’s TCU-UCLA game
Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“It was supposed to be a slider. Down, off the plate, completely
unhittable,” McGee said of the game’s final pitch. “As soon as I let go
of it, I felt it come up out of my hand … I didn’t turn around at first,
I just said (whispers) ‘No,’ and then I heard a pop (as Cardullo caught
the ball). It’s a good way to get out of a game with a mistake pitch.”
Just moments earlier, it seemed unlikely that there would be any tension
in the Seminoles’ dugout. Florida State entered the ninth inning with an
8-2 advantage thanks to 51/3 strong innings from starter Brian Busch and
an impressive combined relief effort from Geoff Parker and Daniel
Bennett.
Bennett quickly notched the first out of the ninth, but a pair of
singles and a fielding error loaded the bases for Florida’s No. 3
hitter, Preston Tucker. Parker then hit a bases-clearing double to right
field that cut the lead to 8-5 and led FSU coach Mike Martin to call on
his closer.
Zunino stepped to the plate, representing the tying run, after a single
and hit batter loaded the bases.
“Certainly there was a concern of the lead that we had in seeing it
dwindle, but Mike was in control,” Martin said. “He made the pitches,
other than the last one, he made the pitches that he wanted to.
“And I’m glad that he mentioned it was supposed to be a slider in the
dirt.”
McGee also provided the game’s biggest offensive fireworks with a 3-run
home run – off of a mistake slider from UF’s Hudson Randall -- in the
third inning that broke a 1-1 tie and put the pressure on the Gators. It
was McGee’s team-leading 16th homer of the season and was part of
career-high tying 4 RBI-performance.
“That 1-2 slider, he (Randall) just left hanging, just a mistake pitch,”
McGee said. “he made a mistake, and I was able to take advantage of it.”
That early lead proved useful for Busch (6-2), who settled down after a
rocky first inning and effectively shut down Florida’s hitters. He
finished the day allowing just two hits and two earned runs.
Gainesville native Tyler Holt continued his strong postseason with a
3-for-4, 2 RBI-day at the plate. Holt’s leadoff home run to straightaway
center brought FSU to level terms after the Gators picked up a run in
the first.
Stephen Cardullo also hit a solo shot in the seventh inning, which
marked the second time that he, Holt, and McGee all homered in the same
game this season.
Holt said that the team’s overriding purpose was, of course, to win the
game and extend its season, but he admitted that doing it at the Gators’
expense made the win just a little bit sweeter.
“A win is a win, whether it was Florida or if we were playing UCLA.
Either one of us are going home, so I'm kind of glad we're staying
around,” Holt said. “But we got pushed out my freshman year by a rival
(Miami, in 2008), and it feels really good to be on the other side this
time.”
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