FSU blows late lead, loses opening game to St. John’s

· Yahoo Sports

Florida State saw its opening-round winning streak snapped on Friday, falling to the loser’s bracket after being upset by No. 4 seed St. John’s.

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The Seminoles led by three heading into the eighth inning, but the Red Storm managed to close the gap with a wild-pitch fueled three-run frame before taking the lead for good in the top of the ninth for the 6-5 win. Florida State stranded 17 runners, including nine in scoring position.

FSU will now face off against the loser of tonight’s game between Coastal Carolina and Northern Illinois.

Even with the rain delay, Bryson Moore was ready to go from the opening pitch. The righty, who Link Jarrett decided to give the ball to in Game 1, induced a weak groundout before striking out back-to-back batters to fire a 1-2-3 top half of the first. The hot start for the Seminoles continued in the bottom half of the first, as John Stuetzer smashed a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game to put FSU ahead, 1-0. Florida State threatened further as Brayden Dowd and Brody DeLamielleure drew back-to-back walks, but they were left on as the Nole issues with runners on base persisted.

St. John’s responded immediately at the top of the second with a solo homer of its own to knot the contest up at one. It seemed that Moore started to lose his command as he walked his next batter, but FSU’s defense came up large to back up its pitcher. Stuetzer threw out the runner on first, trying to take an extra 90 feet on a single with a 7-5 putout to Cal Fisher, and in the ensuing at-bat, a strike-‘em-out-throw-’em-out retired the side.

The Seminoles stole the lead right back as Gabe Fraser took a 3-1 fastball on the outer half of the plate and deposited it under the scoreboard for the second straight solo home run by Florida State to begin an inning. Later in the frame, the Noles put more pressure on the Red Storm as Carter McCulley singled and Dowd walked, but DeLamielleure went fishing with two strikes and two outs, as FSU left two more runners on base.

The top of the third saw Moore throw his fourth strikeout, followed by a double on a 7-pitch full count. That double was nullified after, once again, the Seminoles caught a runner off-base, picking him off for the second out. St. John’s got its fourth hit of the game for a single to keep the frame alive, but once more, FSU caught a man stealing to send the game to the bottom of the third.

FSU went three up, three down in the bottom frame, with Carns grounding out, Barrett flying out and Cmeyla striking out.

St. John’s logged another 1-2-3 to start the fourth, hitting back-to-back groundouts before a flyout.

After Moore registered his second 1-2-3 inning of the game with a clean fourth, the Seminoles extended their lead in the home half. A Fraser walk and a Cal Fisher single put two on with one gone, and with two outs in the inning, Dowd singled to center to drive home Fraser to extend the Nole advantage to 3-1.

St. John’s pushed back in the fifth with a leadoff double to start, Moore getting his fifth strikeout after. A deep right field single that bounced off the wall scored the lead runner, pulling the Red Storm within one. St. John’s finally stole a base, but a fly out and a sixth Moore strikeout closed out the inning.

The bottom frame was another three up, three down from FSU as Carns lined out and both Barrett and Cmeyla struck out. Florida State made a change at pitcher entering the sixth, putting Chris Knier on the mound to end Moore’s day with 6 hits and 2 runs allowed, striking out 6 on 88 pitches.

St. John’s got a single to start the sixth, with the runner stealing second before Knier walked the next batter. The Seminoles turned a double play after, leaving one man on third before they then chose to intentionally walk Adam Agresti. Knier then worked back from a 3-1 count to get his first strikeout and prevent any potential disaster and keep FSU ahead.

Fraser ground out to begin the bottom frame, with McCulley then hitting a single up the middle. He managed to score from first off a single from Fisher and an error from St. John’s. Stuetzer went down swinging, Dowd looked like he had a home run, then looked like he had it stolen from him but the St. John’s outfielder failed to secure the catch, scoring Fisher before a DeLamielleure line out sent things to the seventh with FSU leading 5-2.

St. John’s went 1-2-3 in the top frame, flying out and grounding out to sandwich Knier’s second strikeout.

Carns was walked to begin the bottom frame, but he was thrown out after Barrett grounded out into a double play. Cmeyla struck out swinging to register another 1-2-3 showing.

The Red Storm got one back off a home run from its leadoff batter, homering to deep left field. Knier walked the next hitter on a full count, giving up a right-center single on his next pitch to put runners on the corners for St. John’s with no outs. That led to John Abraham entering the game, ending Knier’s day after 2 innings (3 hits, 3 runs allowed, 2 strikeouts).

A wild pitch brought St. John’s within one, a second one putting the tying run on third. Abraham walked the next, putting FSU back into the same situation as when he entered the game. Disaster struck once again as the Red Storm tied it up off a passed ball, forcing the Seminoles to walk Agresti for a second time. A sac bunt advanced both runners into scoring position and then catcher’s interference on Carns erased a strikeout and instead loaded the bases.

Florida State got a lucky break when, despite dropping an easy out on a pop up, it managed to get the ball home and tag out the potential leading run. Fisher managed to force an out at third on a hit, ending the Seminoles’ nightmare frame with the game tied at 5-5.

Fraser got a leadoff single to begin the bottom of the eighth, with McCulley striking out after being called for an action clock violation. Fisher popped up after St. John’s made another change on the mound, the inning ending after a Stuetzer groundout.

Abraham gave up a single to start the ninth, getting his first strikeout off the next batter. Another single scored a Red Storm runner and gave them the lead. St. John’s lined out for the second out, after which Abraham was replaced by Cole Stokes. A caught foul ball ended the frame, giving FSU three outs to avoid the loser’s bracket.

Dowd singled to start things off, putting the tying run on base. DeLamielleure flied out on an 0-2 count, ending his hitting streak, but Carns got a single on an 0-2 count of his own to put two on for FSU. It was all for naught, however, as Putnam ground into a double play to end the game and hand FSU an opening-round loss.

2026 Tallahassee Regional: Schedule

Friday, May 29

Game 1: No. 4 St. John’s 6, No. 1 Florida State 5

Game 2: No. 2 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 3 Northern Illinois

  • Time: 8 p.m.
  • Channel: ESPN+

Saturday, May 30

Game 3: No. 1 Florida State vs. Loser Game 2

  • Time: 1 p.m.
  • Channel: TBA

Game 4: No. 4 St. John’s vs. Winner Game 2

  • Time: 6 p.m.
  • Channel: TBA

Sunday, May 31

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

  • Time: 1 p.m.
  • Channel: TBA

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

  • Time: 6 p.m.
  • Channel: TBA

Monday, June 1

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)

  • Time: TBA
  • Channel: TBA

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