Late rally sees Florida State baseball pull away from Jacksonville for 4th straight win
Florida State freshman DeAmez Ross was the star early and late for the Seminoles Tuesday.
The end result was FSU's fourth consecutive victory - its second-longest win streak of the season.
Ross opened the scoring on the game's second pitch in the first inning on a solo home run, scored the tying run in the fifth inning and gave FSU a 5-4 lead with a two-out single in the eighth to power FSU past the Jacksonville Dolphins 6-4 at Howser Stadium before an announced crowd of 3,887.
FSU was coming off a three-game home sweep of Mercer last weekend.
"I'm proud of the way the guys played today," Seminoles head coach Link Jarrett said.
"It starts on the mound and Jamie (Arnold) came out and had a very efficient first inning, and presented control of the game. DeAmez comes out and puts us up 1-0. He had a great ball game. The catch at center field was a phenomenal jump...It's fitting that he got the hit that won the game."
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DeAmez's Day
A single from Ross brought home Colton Vincent, giving FSU the narrow one-run lead and continuing the see-saw momentum with two outs in the eighth inning. However, it was Jamie Ferrer's long double that brought home Ross and gave the Seminoles the type of comfort they hadn't seen all game.
The freshman had an impact felt all over the field.
In five at-bats he had three hits, three runs, and two RBIs off the home run. In the field, he had two putouts, which included a reaching grab made in the outfield.
"He does a lot of the things you would want," Jarrett said. "He continues to get better in the outfield and is a solid base runner. He's gaining some calmness and confidence when you give him the ability to steal bases and run. It's one thing in training practices and scrimmages, but it's another in game situations when you have the chance to run."
The Seminoles out-hit the Dolphins, 13-5. Jaime Ferrer was 3-for-5 with an RBI double, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Cam Smith tied the game with a double. Colton Vincent was 2-for-4 with a double, his 10th of the season.
Still, Jacksonville kept the game close.
It homered twice, once off of a shot from Hogan McIntosh, responding to a home from Ross back in the first inning. Jacksonville homered again in the seventh as Kris Armstrong hit his 22nd of the year, which tied the game for the Dolphins.
FSU has gotten into a few back-and-forth games this year notably the 15-14 loss to North Florida, but this time around the Seminoles were able to close.
It's a lesson that has been learned game in and game out but was executed against the Dolphins.
"There were some guys that some really good at-bats in periods of the game and had chances to blow this thing open and didn't," Jarrett said. "It was expanding the zone early in the count, some strange takes on some hittable fastballs, but then some of the same guys came up with answers. That's why it's called an average and you've got to take some of the good with the bad."
FSU utilized three pitchers with Doug Kirkland picking up the win, allowing one run on one hit and striking out three over three innings. Starter Jamie Arnold allowed two runs on one hit, walking two, and striking out two over 3.1 innings. Kirkland improved to 2-1 on the year.
What's next
The Seminoles have strung together the most consecutive wins on the season since they went 6-0 to open the year. They also completed the season sweep over Jacksonville.
Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, every win is critical if the Seminoles want to play in the ACC Tournament.
The biggest hill to climb comes this weekend as freshly top-ranked No. 1 Wake Forest travels toTallahassee for FSU's final home series of the regular season.
The Deamon Deacons are coming off a 14-4 win over UNC Greensboro on Tuesday, and have won eight of their last nine.
The ACC Tournament takes the top 12 teams in the conference, and with the Seminoles sitting in 14th, they will likely need to win out for a berth in the postseason.
"It feels good to string some things together and play well," Jarrett said. "Sometimes you play well and lose a game, and feel good about it, but this is playing well and winning. The navigation of that club coming in here, they very, very talented and I think last year going to Knoxville has that similar sense of just how talented they are."
"We don't have to match their season. We have to find a way to beat them one game at a time and that's what we're going to focus on tomorrow when we work out."
It prepares to host No. 1 Wake Forest on Friday at 6 p.m.
Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics and prep sports for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State Seminoles baseball uses late rally to upend Jacksonville
