NCAA College World Series - Game 9 Recap - TCU vs Florida State

Conventional wisdom says that you don’t stretch out a starting pitcher who doesn’t have his best stuff in an elimination game.  Managers Jim Schlossnagle and Mike Martin held to that philosophy, yanking their pitchers early in Wednesday’s game between Texas Christian University and Florida State University. For Florida State’s Martin, that decision paid off, as the Seminoles’ middle relief was uncharacteristically strong.  TCU’s Schlossnagle gave a quick hook to his normally outstanding starter Steven Maxwell, but middle reliever Tyler Lockwood offered no significant improvement. Martin had the upper hand for most of the evening as a result of these moves, but Schlossnagle would have the last laugh, as his Horned Frogs made a late comeback to beat Martin’s Seminoles, 11-7.

The seeds of Schlossnagle’s skittishness were sown early, as Maxwell hung high fastballs to both Sherman Johnson and Mike McGee in the first inning in consecutive at bats.  Both Seminole sluggers took him yard, with Johnson’s homer landing several rows deep in the right field bleachers and McGee’s longball flying over the left field fence.  It was an unusually poor start for Maxwell, who proved to be a reliable second starter behind stud ace freshman Matt Purke, who was outstanding in TCU’s 8-1 win over FSU last Saturday night.  Maxwell, 11-2 during the regular season with a super-low 2.41 ERA, did not give his team the type of outing the Frogs are used to from their outstanding starting staff, consisting of Purke, Maxwell and Kyle Winkler, which combined for a 38-4 record in the regular season.  Each starter also posted ERAs between 2.41 and 3.16, which is excellent for the college game. 

Schlossnagle’s decision to go to the bullpen after only two and two thirds of an inning may have been warranted, as Maxwell gave up a total of six hits and four earned runs.  The Seminoles again abused Maxwell in the third inning after roughing him up in the first.  Johnson singled in his second at-bat of the evening, and James Ramsey lined a triple down the first base line to drive home Johnson. Stephen Cardullo, who had issues in the field by committing three errors on the day, drove home Ramsey with an infield single, prompting Schlossnagle to bring in Lockwood.

Florida State ’s starting pitcher John Gast was better than his TCU counterpart, but FSU's Martin was no more forgiving than Schlossnagle, yanking Gast after three innings despite the fact that his starter gave up only three hits and two runs, neither of them earned.  Gast started strong, retiring the Horned Frogs in order in the first inning and striking out the first two hitters of the second inning before giving up a harmless single to Jantzen Witte. 

The third inning proved to be Gast’s downfall, though.  The inning began with a Cardullo error at shortstop, allowing Aaron Schultz to take first base.  A Brance Rivera single moved Schultz over to third.  Gast, who has an outstanding pickoff move, attempted to catch Rivera taking too much of a lead at first, but his throw sailed wide of Jayce Boyd’s glove, allowing Schultz to score.  A Matt Curry RBI single scored the other unearned run, and Gast’s night was complete after getting Joe Weik to fly out to end the inning.

Florida State took a comfortable 7-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Martin may have limited the runs produced that inning with a questionable managing decision.  Tyler Holt opened the inning with a single, and Lockwood walked Sherman Johnson to put runners on first and second with no outs.  Martin then decided to call on the team’s leading home run hitter to bunt the runners to second and third.  The gambit worked, as Cardullo hit a long-enough fly ball to allow Holt to score, but that sacrifice was FSU’s second of the inning despite having the heart of the batting order at the plate. Boyd then hit a two-run double, but the inning left Seminoles fans wondering how many runs were sacrificed by Martin’s decision to play small-ball. 

> Check out a great selection of BYU merchandise, TCU Hats, & UNLV apparel. Also, be sure to follow the entire 2010 College World Series online through MWC-fans.com!

The Seminoles would need some extra runs. FSU reliever Daniel Bennett did make a mistake by hanging a fastball in the fat part of the plate that Jerome Pena sent out of the park in the seventh inning, but he was otherwise outstanding.  The sidearm pitcher had struggled in his last outing against Florida on Monday night, but on Wednesday his pitches had plenty of movement and sunk over the plate.  Despite topping out in the mid-80s, Bennett kept TCU off balance and the Frogs were never comfortable at the plate while he was pitching.  Bennett struck out five in four innings, giving up only three hits and one run.

Bennett was replaced by Geoff Parker in the eighth inning.  That was when the Seminoles’ troubles began, as the 7-3 lead coming into the inning turned into an 11-7 deficit before the inning was done.  The inning began with anothr FSU error, the Seminoles’ fifth of the game, this one by Johnson.  A Parker wild pitch moved Witte to second, and a Taylor Featherston infield single moved Witte to third.  Parker sustained an elbow injury on a pitch to Featherston and was replaced by closer and All- American Mike McGee, who had been playing in left field.  Brance Rivera scored a run and reached base on a fielder’s choice, which resulted in Featherston being forced out at second for the second out of the inning.  McGee then walked Pena and gave up an RBI double to Bryan Holaday.  McGee, who had a base open, pitched around Jason Coats, one of TCU’s best hitters, but Matt Curry, TCU’s home run leader, was on deck.  Curry made McGee pay for walking the bases loaded by driving a 3-2 fastball over the left-center field fence for a grand slam, as the Omaha crowd went crazy for its adopted favorite team. 

TCU wasn’t content with a 9-7 lead.  Josh Elander singled off McGee, prompting Martin to replace his closer with Hunter Scantling, who promptly gave up a two-run homer to Witte. Scantling then forced a pop-out to mercifully end the inning, but FSU had surrendered the four-run lead it had entering the inning. The Seminoles returned to their dugout in the middle of the eighth with a four-run deficit.

Florida State threatened in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with one out for Johnson, who was 3 for 3 on the night.  TCU closer Kaleb Merck struck out the FSU walk-on, who represented the game-tying run.  The ‘Noles we not yet done, as their top home run hitter was up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs, but McGee’s hard liner was snagged by Pena to end the Seminoles' scoring threat.  Merck then retired the Seminoles in order in the ninth to seal the win for the Horned Frogs.

Mike Martin has made 14 appearances in Omaha as the Florida State manager and does not have a national championship to show for it.  He will have to try again to fill the only gap left in his impressive resume, as his over-achieving Seminoles will again leave Omaha without their elusive first baseball championship.  TCU will advance to face UCLA on Friday.  The Horned Frogs must beat the Bruins twice in order to advance to the best-of-three championship series.

By: John Cary
DFN Sports Guest Writer