Nieporte Homer Lifts Seminoles

By Ben Jones

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

(photo by Larry Novey, FSU Athletics)

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Boomer Biegalski's final mistake on Saturday gave away Florida State's lead. Brandon Glazer's final mistake gave away College of Charleston's chance to stay in the driver's seat in the Tallahassee regional.

 

College of Charleston tied the game 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning after Biegalski and Glazer had dueled for most of the night, but Florida State responded in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run from first baseman Quincy Nieporte to take a 3-2 win.

 

"Everyone went crazy," left fielder DJ Stewart said. "[Nieporte] seems to have a way for the big moment. He doesn't let things get him down. That's what it is. We're a team. He didn't have the greatest at-bats earlier, but we know what he means to our team."

 

College of Charleston (44-14) falls into the losers’ bracket and will face Auburn at noon on Sunday in an elimination game. The Cougars beat the Tigers 7-6 on Friday to open the Regional. Florida State (43-19), which has won six in a row since the start of the ACC tournament, will face the winner of that game at 6.

 

All four games of the Tallahassee regional have been decided by one run.

 

"I couldn't be prouder of Brandon Glazer," College of Charleston coach Monte Lee said. "Fifth-year senior, was an everyday position player for us and converted to a pitcher this year. Won 10 ball games for us, and I could not be prouder of this young man. He battled his rear end off."

 

Glazer pitched a complete game, but Nieporte got the last laugh after starting the day 0 for 3. Nieporte grounded into two double plays before hitting the game-winner, which was also his first hit of the tournament.

 

"I got fortunate, he left a pitch up," Nieporte said. "He had my number the entire game, and I just stuck with it."

 

Florida State broke through in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff single from freshman shortstop Taylor Walls. Catcher Danny De La Calle walked, and right fielder Josh Delph singled to bring Walls home. One batter later, Stewart singled up the middle to bring home De La Calle.

 

It was posed to be an even bigger inning for the Seminoles, with runners on first and third and one out, but Nieporte grounded into his second double play to end the inning. He also grounded into a double play with a man in scoring position in the third inning.

 

Biegalski kept FSU on top until the eighth inning, pitching one of his best games of the season. He had a shutout intact through 7.2 innings before the Cougars' Alex Pastorius doubled to the gap in left – the first signal of trouble on the night. Third baseman Carl Wise followed the double with a first-pitch homer to left to tie the game 2-2. That ended Biegalski's night, but the Seminoles retook the lead almost immediately thanks to Nieporte.

 

"I think I made a good pitch," Glazer said. "It was down in the zone, it was just over the middle of the plate. If anything I could have put it a little more outside, but I have to give credit to him. He put a good swing on it."

 

That swing brought the Seminoles one step closer to advancing out of Regionals. A year ago, FSU was swept at home in two games. That quick exit is a reminder of how far Florida State still has to go.

 

"We haven't won this [Regional]," FSU coach Mike Martin said. "We still have a lot of work to do. We're very excited as a team right now, but we need to win the [Regional] in order to really so-called get excited."