ATHENS — Florida State head coach Mike Martin's NCAA Tournament farewell tour got off to a momentous start Friday as the Seminoles' offense pounded out a season-high 20 hits, including six home runs, en route to a 13-7 win over Florida Atlantic in the opening game of the Athens Regional at Foley Field.
The No. 3-seeded Seminoles (37-21) now will take on Georgia, a 13-3 winner over Mercer, in Saturday's 7 p.m. winner's bracket game. The No. 2 seeded Owls will get No. 4 Mercer at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the first elimination game.
Tim Becker and Drew Mendoza each hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the first meeting between the two Sunshine State schools since 1998.
“That was certainly something that we did not expect," said Martin, whose group had lost three of five coming into the playoffs. "Today was one of those days where everything went right for us early. These two young men to my right [Mendoza & Becker] came up big in the RBI department and that is what we look at as competitors in getting it done in run scoring situations. This was certainly helped by a little wind, but who cares. That is called baseball.”
Martin, who is retiring after the season, has led the Seminoles to a tournament appearance in each of his 40 seasons. He has 16 CWS appearances but is still looking for his first championship.
Reese Albert and J.C. Flowers also hit homers for the Seminoles. Drew Parrish (8-5) allowed five runs in five innings to get the win.
For the Owls (40-20) Bobby Morgensen had three hits, including two homers, and Joe Montes also went deep in a game that saw a brisk wind blowing out of Foley Field.
Florida Atlantic head coach John McCormack said the key was on the mound, where they needed six pitchers to get the 27 outs. Blake Sanderson (8-3) allowed six runs, four earned, in five innings. He gave up three homers after allowing only nine in the regular season.
"You know, it’s an offensive game. It’s no secret we needed to pitch better," McCormack said. "We just have to pitch better. I think we only threw two zeros, maybe three zeros, in a in a nine-inning game, and it's too much to keep chasing."
The Seminoles broke a scoreless tie with a five-run second inning. After the Owls trimmed the lead to 6-3 in the fifth, both teams traded two-run frames in the sixth and seventh innings before Florida State put it out of reach with a three-run ninth.
