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."
