Rare miscues cost Florida State Baseball in 5-2 loss to Louisville
One week after Florida State’s bullpen let Jamie Arnold down, this time it was the Seminoles’ defense.
The normally sure-handed FSU infield committed four errors Friday evening, leading to four unearned Louisville runs, in a 5-2 victory for the Cardinals at Dick Howser Stadium.
With the Seminoles (21-4, 4-4 in the ACC) winning the first game of the series on Thursday, they will battle the Cardinals (17-10, 3-5) for the series victory Saturday at 2 p.m.
Arnold, a sophomore left-hander who has been dominant this season, wasn’t quite as sharp as usual. He allowed four hits and two walks and threw two wild pitches in 6.0 innings. But only one of the five runs he surrendered was earned.
Star Florida State third baseman Cam Smith was charged with three errors, and shortstop Alex Lodise was credited with one. Smith had committed just one error on the season before Friday.
Louisville, meanwhile, played nearly flawless defense and got an excellent outing from starting pitcher Evan Webster. The senior left-hander, who came in with a 2.48 ERA, gave up just one run on six hits in 6.0 innings; he struck out eight and walked two.
Trailing 5-0, Florida State’s first run came in the bottom of the seventh inning, and even that felt like a squandered opportunity.
Marco Dinges led off with a triple and Cal Fisher walked, giving the Seminoles runners at the corners with no outs. But catcher McGwire Holbrook grounded into a double play to score one run, and FSU’s rally faded one batter later.
The Seminoles scored their second run when Fisher drove in Jaime Ferrer with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.
It was the second consecutive tough luck outing for Arnold. Last weekend, he completely dominated Clemson’s lineup on the road and left with a commanding lead, but the Seminoles’ bullpen couldn’t seal the deal.
Stay connected with Warchant.com for postgame coverage.
Join Warchant for Market-Leading Florida State coverage!
Warchant.com provides just what passionate FSU fans expect: Market-leading coverage of Seminole athletics and recruiting.
Join the largest Florida State fan community and receive all the benefits that come with it:
- Elite team and recruiting coverage of the program you love.
- Exclusive video and board Q&A’s with Warchant staff.
- Interaction with the most passionate Seminole fans across multiple board forums.
- 10% off all Garnet & Gold purchases while holding an active membership. Member exclusive discounts once a month at even higher savings.
- Access to Warchant member benefits and giveaways at site events.
- So much more!
SIGN UP: Join Warchant’s FSU Community for $1 today
*Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State baseball fans in the FSU Baseball Forum*
