Unfortunately last week President Gilman was very busy with his duties, so we were unable to put out a weekend wrap-up for our series with Florida Gulf Coast University.  Luckily for you all, there will be two weekend write-ups this week!  Today we will release the FGCU story, and later in the week we will release our Miami weekend results.  Thanks Seminoles Club Baseball fans, you guys rule!

The Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast came into Tallahassee for the first time since 2014 for a bout with your Florida State Seminoles on the weekend of March 25^th and 26^th.  Andrew Kunkler was electric in Game 1 for the Noles, throwing yet again another complete game shutout and picking up his fifth win of the season.  The Eagles were stifled all game, managing just three baserunners all on singles and all stranded on base.  Kunkler struck out six batters, three looking, and was every bit the ace he has been all season long.  The Seminoles offense did the rest, providing ten runs of support and ending the game early with a ten-run rule victory after six innings of play.  Seven of the nine Seminoles batters scored runs, with Brett Gilman, Josuan Suarez, and Sean Malynn all scoring twice.  Tim Becker and Clay Gilman picked up three hits each and combined for three RBI’s and a pair of runs.  Nathan Grant was an on-base machine yet again, reaching base three of four times with a pair of walks and a base hit.  Jake Jacobs reached base three times with a pair of singles and another hit-by-pitch, scoring once and driving in a baserunner.  When all was said and done, the Noles walked it off on an infield single by Clay Gilman to take Game 1 by a score of 10-0. 

Heading into Game 2, the Noles were riding high, but the Eagles had other plans.  After getting down 4-1 early, Gulf Coast worked their way back into it with timely hitting against the Noles starting pitcher Keaton Cederstrom and were able to force him from the game after three innings and a 5-4 FSU lead.  Chase Doczi was the next FSU pitcher to enter the game, but had little success quelling the Eagles’ bats as they knocked in three more runs and took a 7-5 lead with Evan Cannan coming on to relieve.  Cannan was able to quiet FGCU’s offense allowing just one earned run in two and a third innings of work, but he too struggled a bit with command leading to freshman Sam Nadel taking over pitching duties in the top of the seventh with one out, tied at eight a piece.  Nadel wasn’t phased at all by the pressure and recorded two fly outs to end the inning and strand two for Gulf Coast.  The Noles’ bats were active early as they came out of the gate in the bottom of the first with four quick runs.  After scoring just one run from the second to the fifth inning, the Seminoles’ bats awoke again in the sixth tying the game at eight behind clutch walks by Corey Nevers and Josuan Suarez which led to RBI singles by both Clay Gilman and Tim Becker who drove in two.  Heading into the bottom of the seventh tied at eight, Ray Espinosa walked to lead off the inning and was lifted for Sean Malynn to pinch run.  After a Nathan Grant walk and a Malynn steal of third, Jake Jacobs came up to the plate needing just a single to bring home the winning run.  With the count 0-2, Jacobs dug down deep and ripped a single up the middle to bring in Malynn for the walk-off victory!  Ray Espinosa was the player of the game after he started as the clean-up hitter and went 3-3 with a run scored.

After taking both games in the Saturday double-header, it would have been easy for the Noles to relax in this non-conference matchup, but Sunday starter Jacob Wright had no intention of letting off the gas pedal.  Wright gave the Seminoles his best start of the season allowing just three earned runs and just six baserunners in his five innings of work.  After taking the first two innings to settle down, Wright controlled the game flawlessly in the third, fourth, and fifth innings allowing no earned runs and just one hit.  Pitch count led to a change in the sixth inning with Etienne “ET” Maldonado coming out of the bullpen to relieve Jacob.  ET’s fastball was too much for FGCU to handle as he recorded six outs and five of them were set down on strikes.  The Noles pitching did way more than enough for the offense to take care of the rest.  Sean McClaskie led the offense with a 4-4 day, adding two runs, two RBI’s, and two doubles.  Josuan Suarez, Sam Nadel, and Nathan Grant added to the offensive charge with two hits a piece and a combined five runs scored and four runs batted in.  Sean Paul Perry excelled with a pair of hits, one being a double, and two runs to go along with an RBI.  Brett Gilman also played well adding his first homerun of the season on a solo shot in the fourth inning. The Noles overwhelmed the Eagles as they went on to win with a score of 13-3 after just 7 innings of play. 

Offensive Players of the Series:  Timothy Becker and Clay Gilman

Becker and Gilman reached base a combined fifteen times in three games, scoring seven times and driving in nine runs.  Becker went 7-11 with one walk and Gilman went 5-10 with two walks and a pair of stolen bases.  Each recorded a double on the weekend and were solid at the top of the lineup providing the Noles with much needed stability on offense.

Pitchers of the Series:  Andrew Kunkler, ET Maldonado, and Jacob Wright

Kunkler was again dominant for the Noles recording his fifth straight win and dominated Eagles batters allowing just three baserunners in his six-inning complete game.  Maldonado was electric in his two innings of work.  Not only did ET record 5 strikeouts in just two innings of work, FGCU batters struggled mightily to catch up to his fastball and made contact just a couple of times.  Wright threw his best game of the year and was phenomenal after the first two innings of work.  Wright went five innings and allowed just three earned runs on three hits.