OMAHA, Neb – If the game had ended one minute earlier, it would have been 11:11 p.m. in Tallahassee.
Bryce Bonnin and Taylor Floyd combined on a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts as No. 8 Texas Tech topped #11 Mike Martin and Florida State 4-1 in an elimination game in the 2019 College World Series Wednesday evening at TD Ameritrade Park.
The Red Raiders (46-19) face Michigan on Friday at 1 p.m. CT and must beat the Wolverines on both Friday and Saturday to advance to the CWS Championship Series. The Seminoles concluded their season at 42-23.
It marked the end of the coaching career for Martin. He was an assistant coach for five seasons and head coach for 40 with the Seminoles. As a head coach, Martin led FSU to at least 40 wins each season and a berth in the NCAA Tournament each year. He amassed 2,029 victories, more than any coach in any NCAA sport.
“The main thing that I want everyone to know is how proud I am to be a Seminole and be a part of a program that is so important to me,” Martin said, “but yet to see these young men display the leadership that they did when things were not going right for us six, eight weeks ago, I’m just so pleased that they took the bull by the horns and brought us to Omaha. I don’t want what they accomplished to go unnoticed.”
Bonnin (7-1) worked the first five innings for TTU with two hits, one unearned run, four walks and seven strikeouts.
Floyd hurled the final four frames with one hit, four walks and eight punchouts to record his fifth save.
“Really proud of Bryce Bonnin and Taylor Floyd,” TTU head coach Tim Tadlock said. “Those guys threw the ball awful well, gave us an opportunity to hang around and score some runs and play good baseball. Those guys really went out and threw the ball really good.
“In the back of your mind obviously you’re thinking about 11 a little bit, and all the respect in the world for him. Love him, and just appreciate everything he’s done for college baseball.”
TTU snapped the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. Dylan Neuse had a leadoff single and moved to second on a one-out walk to Josh Jung. Cameron Warren had a base hit to left that drove in Neuse with the first run.
FSU answered in the bottom of the frame without the benefit of a hit. Robby Martin drew a leadoff walk and went to second when Matheu Nelson was hit by a pitch on the bill of his helmet. Carter Smith sacrificed the runners up 90 feet. TTU catcher Braxton Fulford tried to throw behind Nelson at second, but threw the ball into center field. Martin came home to level the score at 1-1.
After striking out in his first two plate appearances, Brian Klein homered to lead off the sixth and give the Red Raiders a 2-1 edge. Klein had one homer in 62 games prior to the CWS, but has had two in three games at TD Ameritrade Park.
“I have no idea where the home runs started to come from,” Klein said, “but today it happened that it gave us a really big run, and I’m super thankful for it.”
TTU added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth. Neuse had a leadoff single and stole second. Klein struck out, but reached on a passed ball, which sent Neuse to third. Jung singled to right to plate Neuse with the third run. After a single by Warren loaded the bases, Kurt Wilson walked to bring home Klein and give the Red Raiders a 4-1 lead.
Nelson drew a one-out walk for the Seminoles in the bottom of the eighth. Carter Smith lined a ball into the right center gap. Neuse sprinted from center field and made a diving catch for the second out, sending Nelson back to first. A strikeout ended the threat.
“Every pitch I’m ready to catch the balls in the gaps,” Neuse said. “I’m trying to make a play for my pitcher. They pitched their butt off all game, three hits, so I was trying to make a game-saving catch.
After a walk and a fielder’s choice by FSU in the bottom of the ninth, Floyd fanned the final two hitters to preserve the victory.
“I felt good,” Floyd said. “Everything felt good tonight. I think I was walking some people in some situations, not making pitches earlier in the inning, but just staying with it and being able to bear down with runners on base, I think that was most important. And just giving all our guys a chance to get back in the dugout and score some runs, that’s all I was trying to do.”