June 15, 2008

Missed chances for Florida State

Seminoles strand 10, commit three errors in loss to Stanford

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

OMAHA, Neb. – For the opportunities taken by Stanford, there were numerous missed chances for Florida State in Saturday’s loss to the Cardinal.

The Seminoles had plenty of base-runners, but struggled to get the big hits. FSU was 4 for 22 with runners on base and 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

In the bottom of the seventh, FSU trailed 5-2 and used three walks to load the bases with no outs. Stanford reliever Drew Storen surrendered a free pass to Buster Posey to fill the sacks, then got Jack Rye and Dennis Guinn to pop out and Tony Delmonico to strike out looking to end the threat.

Delmonico had a game he hopes to quickly forget. He committed a season-high three errors that helped prolong Stanford scoring innings. He had a fielding error in a two-run seventh that gave the Cardinal a 5-2 lead. After the Seminoles tied it on Jason Stidham’s three-run homer in the eighth, Delmonico committed two fielding miscues on potential double-play balls in the 11-run ninth as Stanford posted a 16-5 victory.

“This game will humble you sometimes,” said Florida State head coach Mike Martin. “This day just wasn’t our day. Tony is a big part of our team and our success so far and he will bounce back.”