Seminoles Survive

Tonight, the Seminoles kept their championship hopes alive by knocking out Stony Brook. Mike Martin's quest for that championship lives on. The next opponent is TBD. Whoever loses the UCLA-Arizona game tonight will be the Noles opponent.

The Seminoles advance behind a 12-2 victory and a fantastic performance by Freshman pitcher Mike Compton. Compton continues to be a huge difference maker for the Noles. Justin Gonzalez had a key three run homer in the victory. Gonzalez was drafted by the Dodgers as a defensive shortstop, so they have to be thrilled with Gonzalez's offense as of late. These Noles have now score 10+ runs in 3 of the 4 playoff games since the Regional. Hopefully, the Noles can score like this Tuesday night against their Pac 12 opponent.

Go Noles!

-Noland

Seminoles Are Super Regional Bound

#11 has done it again as he helped the Seminoles once again advance to the Super Regionals. The boys did it behind another victory over Samford. During the Tallahassee Regional the Noles didn't even have to play Mississippi State. This is the Noles 5th consecutive Super Regional. Dating back to 1999, the Seminoles are 15-5 in regional play. The MVP of the Super Regional was James Ramsey. In addition to Ramsey, Sherman Johnson, Josh Delph, and Brandon Leibrandt made the All-Tournament Team.

Josh Delph is a freshman right fielder for the Seminoles. I have not talked about him too much to this point, but he was huge in this tournament. Delph had 2 hits, 2 RBIs, a run scored, and a stolen base last night. Which is one of the big reasons for the win and for his inclusion on the Tournament Team.

The biggest reason for the win though was the pitching. Another freshman, Mike Compton, pitched another brilliant game for the Noles. Compton worked 6 innings plus and only gave up 1 earned run. If the Seminoles pitch in the Super Regionals like they did in this regional, then they will be going back to the College World Series.

Since FSU is paired up with the Palo Alto Regional, FSU will be hosting Stanford this weekend. Dates and times will be announced by the NCAA today. There are only 16 teams left and that will be reduced to 8 in a week. Well there is slightly more than 16 left now because some regionals have not been decided. The ACC had a bad weekend as FSU is the only team to advance thus far. NC State is still alive though as the Wolfpack are even with Vanderbilt in their regional. By contrast, the SEC has advanced 4 and could advance as many as 6 by the end of the day, including the Commodores who try to knock off the Wolfpack. The ACC was hurt by poor showings from the Tar Heels, Canes, and Cavs, all #1 seeds. GT and Clemson both gave it a good try, but it was tough to knock off #1 Florida and defending champs SC.

-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