May 29, 2015

Regional Scores & Schedules

Regional Capsules

Regional Recaps - Day 1

Delph Delivers for Seminoles

By Ben Jones

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Mercer was one run away from finally getting off to the start it wanted in the NCAA tournament. Florida State was one run away from finding itself facing elimination, as the Seminoles did last year.

 

But a walk-off single in the 10th inning from senior Josh Delph gave FSU a 5-4 win over the Bears in the second game of the Tallahassee Regional on Friday night at Dick Howser Stadium. The Seminoles (42-19) advance to face College of Charleston at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Mercer (35-22) will face Auburn at noon.

 

"It was just a game that you're very fortunate to win," FSU coach Mike Martin said. "You tip your hat to Mercer. They did a very good job."

 

Mercer made sure to show it wasn't afraid of Florida State or the NCAA tournament. The Bears, playing in their third Regional in the past six years, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning after a pair of throwing errors from Florida State freshmen Taylor Walls and Dylan Busby.

 

That didn't hold, as FSU scored four runs in the bottom of the inning – two coming on a John Sansone double. Taylor Walls had an RBI single to score Ben DeLuzio (2 for 5, 2 R), and D.J. Stewart added an RBI grounder. 

 

But the Bears tied the game in the top of the next inning with three more runs. Jackson Ware had a sacrifice fly before Charlie Madden (3 for 4) bunted in a run and Howard Joe (2 for 5) singled in a run.

 

That score held until the 10th inning as the Seminoles and Bears traded zeroes, when FSU finally broke through.

 

Mercer is still hoping for a breakthrough, but will have to battle out of losers’ bracket to do so. After coming so close to a big upset that could have set up a run through the Regional, Mercer coach Craig Gibson hoped the Bears would have enough left to stay alive.

 

"We're ready to win a couple," Gibson said. "A few years ago someone said they were disappointed with the way it ended and like I told him, everybody in the country is disappointed except for one team. We were disappointed we didn't win, and I fully expected us to have a chance to win."

 

Both teams got strong work out of their bullpens. Mercer's Michael Pittman gave up just one hit and two walks through 3.2 innings after coming on in the fourth inning for starter D.J. Johnson, who gave up four runs to the Seminoles in the second inning.

 

FSU starter Mike Compton appeared to settle down after giving up three runs in the top of the third, retiring the side in order in the fourth and fifth but was out of gas by the sixth inning. He left the game with runners on the corners and no outs, though reliever Dylan Silva got FSU out of the jam.

 

Silva went 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit while striking out four. When he came out in the ninth inning, closer Billy Strode kept the pressure on and threw 1.2 shutout innings. The two relievers combined to throw five shutout innings, allowing three hits and one walk.

 

"Coming in for the ninth, you just want to do your best for your team in that situation, knowing if you give up one it puts them in a bind," Strode said.

 

Their work set up for Delph's heroics in extra innings. DeLuzio led off with a single and moved to second, then third on a pair of bunts. Delph, FSU's leadoff hitter, came to the plate with one out and immediately fell behind 0-2 to Mercer's Dimitri Kourtis. He battled back to work the count full.

 

"Just put it in play," Delph said of his approach at the plate. "I knew he had a good changeup. I swear, the second [pitch], I saw it out of his hand. I was still way out in front of it. I was just going to let the ball get deep and see what I could do."