Historic Sweep: FSU Baseball finishes off Miami to record rare feat against 'Canes, Gators
After a 6-4 victory over Miami on Saturday, head coach Link Jarrett said he had no idea how long it had been since the Florida State baseball team swept both the Hurricanes and the Florida Gators in the same season.
He was informed it happened last in 1960.
“Was it really?” he said. “Wow.”
Jarrett then took just a millisecond to let it sink in before continuing.
“No, it’s good,” the second-year Seminoles skipper said. “We’re playing good baseball. And that says a lot about it. This is not an easy thing to do. This week is not easy. You can go back as far as you want, it’s not easy to stack [wins] like this.
“You have to respond every single day. And the response, and the execution and the performance may lead you to that. Which I had no earthly idea.”
The Seminoles beat Florida on Tuesday night, 19-4, to finish off a three-game sweep of the Gators. They then followed that up with three wins over the Hurricanes at Howser Stadium, which witnessed the most attended three-game series in program history.
It’s safe to say that Florida State fans are excited about the 2024 baseball team, which is now 30-5 on the season and 10-5 in the ACC thanks to another down-to-the-last-pitch win over the Hurricanes.
Miami scored one in the first on a two-out RBI single off starter Carson Dorsey, but the Seminoles responded with two in the bottom of the inning — the big blow being a Cam Smith RBI double off the right-field fence.
Miami tied the score in the second inning with another two-out single. Then the Seminoles responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the third. Max Williams had an RBI double off the fence in right-center, and Smith then followed with a two-run homer over the screen in right for a 5-2 lead.
The Hurricanes scored another single run in the fourth and were threatening again in the fifth when Florida State made the biggest defensive play of the day: Reliever Andrew Armstrong came on with runners on the corners and one out, and Miami’s Jason Torres then blistered a hard grounder up the middle that was backhanded by FSU second baseman Cal Fisher, who then started an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Florida State then added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Marco Dinges hit a solo homer to right field. The Miami infielders appeared to take exception with the way Dinges rounded the bases (Jarrett said he wasn’t sure what the issue was afterward), and Torres wound up being ejected for something he said toward the FSU dugout after the celebration at home plate.
With tensions high following the homer, Armstrong came back out and got the first two outs of the inning on ground balls before allowing a single, a hit-by-pitch and another single to score a run.
Connor Hults came into the game and got a save on just one pitch as shortstop Alex Lodise snared a rocket-shot liner to end the game. And the series.
It was a perfect 4-0 week for the Seminoles. All four coming against their archest of arch rivals.
“This team has responded better than any team I’ve ever been around,” Jarrett said. “That’s what stands out the most to me about walking into today after this game, is just their response to everything that’s been thrown at them. …
“And I was so excited for our fans to get to see four games like this. I think that was the most people that have ever been to a three-game series in program history at this stadium. And you want to deliver. Everybody came out for this, and more would have been here if we could have accommodated. And our guys delivered.”
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