Former Seminole Hits Walk Off HR

My wife's favorite Seminole baseball player came through in a big way last night for his new team. Devon Travis hit his first walk off home run as a professional lifting the Connecticut Tigers to victory. Watch the shot below.

While I was slightly disgruntled that Devon Travis left FSU, you can't blame the guy. Most people do not realize that baseball only gets 11.78 scholarships, so most players aren't even on full ride and have to pay for school in some cases. No shame in getting paid to play baseball. Since he is now a professional, I am glad he is succeeding. Travis is a class act and will always be a Seminole. I just wish the Orioles got him. The Tigers sure got a good one.

-Noland

Seminoles Eliminate #2 UCLA

The Florida State Seminoles are one step closer to that elusive title in the College World Series. They just took out the UCLA Bruins. UCLA was #2 and the highest ranked team left after the Gators were eliminated a night earlier. With UCLA and Florida knocked out, the highest ranked team is....The Florida State Seminoles. Don't get too excited though.

The Seminoles may now be the favorite on paper, but if you go by where they are at in the bracket they can't be the favorite. FSU will now take on the Arizona Wildcats again. Arizona beat FSU in 12 innings on the 1st day of this tournament. Arizona also has not lost in the CWS yet. In this double elimination tournament, that means that FSU has to beat Arizona twice. Not impossible, but a tall order. I will get to the other side of the bracket after I tell you about last night.

Scott Sitz was the hero for the Seminoles who have had surprisingly strong pitching through this CWS. He went 6 2/3 innings and had 8 huge strikeouts. UCLA had one threat, and Sitz struck out the side to end that threat as soon as possible. Sitz stranded the bases loaded in that instance and helped the Noles secure the victory. He shut down a very good UCLA lineup and only gave up 1 run in the 4-1 Noles victory. Robert Benincasa, the future Nationals closer, earned his 16th save of the season.

The top of the order again was what delivered for the Noles. Sherman Johnson was 2-3 with 2 runs scored. Including scoring on a bunt by Jayce Boyd. Boyd's bunt was so perfect, that Devon Travis also scored on the play after the 3rd baseman didn't field it cleanly. Travis was also 2-3 in the game. The captain, James Ramsey, was also 2-3 with a run scored. Great night from the three at the top, again.

No word yet on Thursday night's starter.

Anyways, back to the bracket. On the other side of the bracket, Arkansas has yet to lose a game, and of course Florida is eliminated. Defending back to back champ South Carolina's winning streak was snapped by Arkansas and they will play Kent State in an elimination game tonight. The winner will meet Arkansas on Thursday and then play again on Friday if they win Thursday night. Hopefully Kent State wins out on their side and plays us for the title. We will see though.

Go Noles!

-Noland

Seminoles Destroy Stanford

Today is my wife's birthday. She is amazing and another FSU grad. She also runs a zoo blog with me and runs another blog by herself. Today she is doing a huge giveaway on her blog, so I invite you to check it out. Anyways, the Seminoles baseball team gave her an early birthday present last night and I am going to write about it here.

Florida State won last night 17-1. They absolutely crushed the Stanford Cardinal. Not just that, but they did it against Mark Appel. Appel lasted only 4 innings against the Noles. He walked 4(with the Orioles walk problems out of starters, I am glad we passed). The noise at Dick Howser noticeably got to him and he was unable to adjust. Those Seminole bats didn't help out much either. Despite only giving up 5 hits, Appel gave up 7 runs in those 4 innings of work.

Then the bullpen entered for Stanford and got hammered. They gave up 10 runs over 4. Stanford didn't even pitch 9 innings and gave up 17. That is a true testament to the Seminoles ability to hit the baseball.

That offense was paced by Devon Travis. All the Seminoles were mashing, but none better than Travis. He went 3-5, scored 3 times, drove in 6, and hit 2 home runs. The home runs were his 6th and 7th of the season. Even taking out the RBIs, Travis beat the Cardinal by himself with 2 home runs. Absolutely an incredible performance by the 2nd baseman for the Seminoles. Hope he can keep it up.

Brandon Leibrandt was again fantastic for the Noles on the mound picking up the victory. He was also named to the Freshman All-American team earlier in the day. These Noles are not playing around. Now, these Noles are one win away from a trip to Omaha.

-Noland

Seminoles Drafted So Far

Yesterday, I posted about FSU OF James Ramsey being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, today several more players were picked for the greatest university around.

This included my cousin's Washington Nationals selecting FSU closer Robert Benincasa. This is an awesome pick for the Nasty Nats who desperately need a closer. Benincasa should quickly rise through the system and help the Nats in the near future.

The New York Mets selected FSU 1B Jayce Boyd. I selfishly want Boyd to return next year and be a difficult sign for the Mets. However, I am very happy for Jayce and his selection and wish him well with the Mets if that is what he chooses.

The Los Angeles Angels selected 3B Sherman Johnson. Johnson is my favorite Seminole, but he has no more eligibility left. He should be an easy sign for the Angels and hopefully will contribute a great deal. He was drafted as a 2B for the Angels, which is where he started originally. I think Johnson will exceed his pick and end up with the big team one day.

The Detroit Tigers selected 2B Devon Travis. Travis is my wife's favorite Nole and really brings it every time out. He can come back and may likely come back, but will do well in their organization should he go to Detroit.

-Noland

Mike Martin ACC Coach of the Year

Once again, #11 has done it. After leading FSU to their 9th regular season ACC title, Mike Martin has been named ACC Coach of the Year for the 7th time. I know that the award isn't what Martin really wants and that he wants to win that first national title, but he has to be proud of the team.

Outfielder James Ramsey was named ACC player of the year. Ramsey becomes the 5th Seminole to bring home that honor. The others include Buster Posey, JD Drew and John Ford-Griffin. This guy had a great year and deserved the honor.

It goes without saying that Ramsey was an All-ACC first teamer given his honor. Joining Ramsey on the 1st team are 1st baseman Jayce Boyd, 2nd baseman Devon Travis, and relief pitcher Robert Benincasa. Freshman pitcher Mike Compton made the 2nd team. After receiving all of the awards, the Noles will look to win the ACC Tournament.

-Noland