OMAHA, Neb. – Junior J.C. Flowers did a little bit of everything on Saturday evening for Florida State.
He had a leaping catch against the wall in center field in the bottom of the second. He scored the game’s lone run in the top of the ninth. He took the mound and retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, with a strikeout to end the game, in earning the save.
All contributed to a 1-0 win for head coach Mike Martin and the Seminoles (42-21) against fifth-seeded Arkansas in Game 2 of the 2109 College World Series in front of 26,155 fans at TD Ameritrade Park.
“It was a game in which you’re on the edge of your seat the entire nine innings,” Martin said. “It was extremely well-played by both teams.”
Flowers was hit by a pitch to start the top of the ninth. A grounder up the middle by Carter Smith went to second baseman Jack Kenley, who tried to tag Flowers. The glove and ball both went flying when making contact with Flowers and both runners were safe. Closer Matt Cronin took over on the mound for Arkansas. Matheu Nelson was successful on a sacrifice, advancing both runners. Nander De Sedas sent a fly ball to medium right field. Flowers tagged and beat the throw home, giving FSU a 1-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the ninth, Flowers got a groundout to short, a lineout to first and a swinging strikeout to record his 13th save.
“It was a close game all the way through,” Flowers said, “and Arkansas played really, really well. At the end of the day, one team is going to come out on top, and I was just glad to be able to score the first and only run and be able to close it out for my team.”
Both teams had early scoring chances.
FSU had two on and one out in the top of the second, but Isaiah Campbell notched a pair of strikeouts to squelch the rally.
The Razorbacks (46-19) had a chance to dent home in the bottom of the third. Christian Franklin and Trevor Ezell had base hits to start the inning. Casey Martin hit a shot off Drew Parrish, who gathered himself and got the out at first, moving both runners up 90 feet. The FSU infield defense started deep, then came running in. Matt Goodheart hit a liner to De Sedas at second, who threw to third to double up Franklin and end the threat.
In the bottom of the eighth, Franklin had a leadoff double to right, the first extra base hit in the game. A grounder to short by Ezell moved to Franklin to third with one away. Parrish struck out Martin and Goodheart to keep the contest scoreless.
Parrish battled through eight innings, allowing five hits and two walks while fanning nine to raise his record to 9-5. He had three strikeouts the first two times through the lineup through five innings. He had six punchouts over the final three frames and 12 batters.
“Pitching in Omaha has got to be the top by far,” Parrish said. “Every kid dreams of playing at that field and being in a situation like it was tonight with great fan support from both sides and great competition. It’s probably the best game of my career.”
Campbell went seven scoreless innings and allowed five hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts. It was the fifth time this season he reached double figures in strikeouts in a game.
“A really, really well-pitched game by both teams,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “I thought Isaiah threw the ball extremely well and pitch count got up just a little bit and then he had a couple quick innings there. He got us through seven.”