|
The second week of March has belonged to Seminoles pitchers.
The Seminoles shut down the Osprey lineup cruising to a comfortable 6-2
win on Wednesday night from Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee. On the
heels of a one hit performance against Jacksonville University this past
Monday night, Robert Benincasa and company followed suit against North
Florida.
Benincasa, a true freshman from Armwood High School in Tampa, limited
North Florida to just one run over his six complete innings. The right
hander only surrendered five hits and three walks while striking out
three.
For his efforts, Benincasa was awarded the first victory of his young,
collegiate career.
“Benincasa was very poised, very aggressive, and is a guy that can pitch
through adversity,” said Mike Martin. “I thought the early inning
jitters when he walked one or two, that he did a good job of coming back
and staying poised allowing his team to get back in the dugout.”
With several consecutive starts, on the weekend, and during the week
itself, the Seminoles pitching staff appears to be coming into its own.
“I’m really starting to feel good about it now, especially with the
people we have in the bullpen,” explained Martin. “When you have Daniel
Bennett, Tyler Everett, Brian Busch, Hunter Scantling, and Andrew Durden
– when you have those guys in relief, you certainly do feel much
better.”
An extra sense of confidence comes to any pitcher when he knows his
defense is behind him. Especially when that hurler is making his second
career start in Benincasa’s case.
With a strong defense at his back that was keen on turning double plays,
the Tampa native was able to pitch with an element of trust.
“That’s huge,” said the winning pitcher. “That’s the biggest thing from
high school to college. I’m able to enjoy it with a solid eight guys
behind me and have confidence in wherever I throw it. Because after I
release the pitch, it is out of my hands and it is really up to my
defense to make the play or help me get out of the inning.”
The only run that Benincasa allowed over the duration of his start came
via a solo home run in the top of the third inning. The fact that the
ball traveled over the fence even came as a surprise, but the winds of
Tallahassee provided no favors to the Seminoles pitcher.
“I probably threw it about 70 miles per hour,” explained Benincasa. “The
guy didn’t even hit it really cleanly. I was expecting (Gilmartin) to be
camping underneath it, but the wind sort of took it. But things are
going to happen like that.”
Mike McGee led the Seminoles offensive charge with a 2-for-4 night from
the plate driving in three of the six Florida State runs including a
two-run homer in the fifth inning. After a double against Jacksonville
on Monday night, things are looking up for the Port St. Lucie native.
Head coach Mike Martin believes that good hitters can only be tied down
for so long.
“He had the big hit today, no doubt about it,” said Martin.
“Michael is a guy that I have a lot of confidence in. I didn’t sit here
and tell you it was a matter of time, I just have seen him play here
over the years and I know what the young man is capable of doing. He
really delivered a big hit for us today, we needed it, and Michael gave
it to us with that home run.
Closing pitcher Andrew Durden made his first appearance since his
struggles against the University of Florida just over a week ago. After
getting off to a good start, Durden then hit a rough patch, but
rebounded nicely.
“What impressed me most about Andrew was when he went 3-0, he was
literally one pitch away from being taken out,” Martin said. “He gripped
a hold of that poise, and delivered three straight strikes and got the
guy out. Very, very proud of him today.”
Florida State will take on the preseason favorites to take home the ACC
title this weekend when the Virginia Cavaliers will head down to
Tallahassee. Sean Gilmartin will start the Seminoles off on Friday
delivering the first pitch at 6:00 p.m. from Dick Howser Stadium.
|
.jpg)