TALLAHASSEE (www.sportsdayjax.com) - Jacksonville University baseball went back-and-forth with Florida State on Tuesday night, before ultimately falling 6-4 at Dick Howser Stadium.
The Dolphins (29-19) rallied to tie or take the lead three times, before the Seminoles pushed across two in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead for good."We're playing against a team that is fighting for their lives and playing well at the end of the season, nothing is going to be easy," said Head Coach Chris Hayes. "We were going to have to fight to the very last out, which we did."We didn't quite do enough tonight to put them away and it came back to bite us at the end."FSU jumped ahead early with a leadoff solo shot to left, but starter Blake Barquin buckled down, getting a groundball double play as part of a strong finish to the opening frame to strand two additional men in scoring position.JU answered right back to take the lead in the second. Justin Nadeau reached on an error, and after he was replaced at first on a fielder's choice by Blake DeLamielleure, Hogan McIntosh drove a two-run shot to right to put the Dolphins in front 2-1.Pitching continually answered the bell over the ensuing innings. Barquin surrendered a one-out double in the second, but stranded the runner at third. In the third, the Seminoles got a runner into scoring position, but Barquin denied them from scoring once again.Tommy Allman took over to start the fourth, and after getting two quick outs, gave up back-to-back singles, which put runners at the corners. He bore down and got a strikeout to end the threat. The fifth inning started with a single, and a one-out walk put two on. A double to left tied the game at two, but Allman dug deep, and struck out the next two hitters to leave runners at second and third and keep the game tied.The Dolphins went back in front in the seventh. Tommy Joseph sent a ball into the rightfield corner for a leadoff double. After Cam Ridley came in to pinch-run for him, he took third on a passed ball. Colin Wetterau sent a drive to deep right for a sacrifice fly to score Ridley and give JU the 3-2 lead.FSU came right back in the bottom half, rallying with two outs. A walk and a single set the table for an RBI double to left to tie the game, then a wild pitch put the Seminoles in front for the first time since the first, 4-3.Kris Armstrong led off the eighth with a solo shot to right center and knotted the game at four apiece.The bottom half gave FSU opportunities, and they pounced. The first batter reached on an error at second, and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. A single to left put FSU back in front, and one batter later, a routine flyball to right was lost in the lights and fell for an RBI double to give the Seminoles an insurance run, before they closed it with a 1-2-3 ninth."Our guys came ready to play and competed extremely well," continued Hayes. "The execution wasn't great, but the competition level and the energy throughout the entire game was good for our guys."We're in a good place moving into a critical conference weekend against Stetson."