How three innings dictated FSU baseballs loss to Oregon State in Corvallis super regional

Florida State baseball’s season ended in heartbreak after Oregon State beat the Seminoles 14-10 in the winner-take-all game three of the Corvallis Super Regional.

Nearly 3,000 miles away from home, the No. 9-seeded Seminoles (42-16) battled No. 8-seeded Oregon State with a berth to the College World Series in Omaha on the line. In a series between two college baseball heavyweights, the Beavers emerged victorious, while FSU begins its journey back to Tallahassee with questions of what could have been.

Over the 28 innings played at Goss Stadium, three innings seemingly were the difference in the series.

FSU gave up 16 runs over three crucial, season-defining innings in the super regional, and that proved to be the difference between a second consecutive trip to Omaha for the first time in over two decades and a heartbreaking flight home to Tallahassee for the Seminoles.

“They played better than we did. I felt like there were three innings, the ninth (game one), the first, and the third (game three) that we could not escape,” FSU head coach Link Jarrett told reporters postgame. “The game revolves around the big inning, and those three were the difference in this series.”

The ninth inning of game one handed Oregon State control of the series

It looked like the Seminoles had sealed a game one victory, leading Oregon State 4-1 going into the ninth with a red-hot Joe Charles on the mound on Friday night.

Fears of a leadoff double leading to a rally seemed to shrink after two quick outs recorded by Charles. However, a five-pitch walk and a pair of singles later dramatically loaded the bases and loosened the Seminoles’ grasp on a victory.

Charles faced Jacob Kreig, who was 1-for-3 with a double to that point of the game, and the first pitch he delivered ran to the backstop and scored a Beaver runner from third base.

The resilient Charles battled back and worked into a 2-2 count, and down to their final strike, Kreig launched a two-run single to tie the game, swinging momentum in favor of the Beavers. The hit ultimately forced extra innings, and after the Seminoles went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th, Oregon State walked it off to snatch a game one victory, and more importantly, control of the series.

Since the NCAA implemented super regionals in 1999, the winners of game one of the best-of-three series had gone on to win the series 158 of 200 times, a 79% win rate.

Two home run filled innings ended FSU’s season in Corvallis

The Seminoles tested the odds with a 3-1 win on Saturday, anchored by quality pitching from Jamie Arnold and Peyton Prescott to force a winner-takes-all game.

With all to play for in game three, it looked like the Seminoles had made an early statement of intent as Max Williams launched a two-run home run in the top of the first on Sunday to give FSU a quick 2-0 lead.

Coming off a career-high eight innings pitched vs. Mississippi State, Wes Mendes toed the rubber with hopes of delivering something similar in Corvallis.

However, five hits, two home runs and seven runs later, Mendes exited the game after less than an inning pitched, and a touchdown allowed in the first inning. For the second time in the series, the Beavers had snatched away the momentum from FSU in dramatic fashion.

“This was built around stating pitching, and Wes had been fighting an illness this week, the travel, and the different allergy stuff that’s going on out here for him, he didn’t look like it was as good as I’ve seen it,” Jarrett said.

“You have to have command of secondary pitch. We were trying to get him through it to see if he can find one of the secondary pitches, and you have an all-right-handed lineup. It seemed like if he could get that changeup going, that changeup’s pretty good. But they were on it, and we could not get out of it. That was damage.”

While jarring, a 7-2 lead didn’t feel insurmountable for the Seminoles, and a second inning Chase Williams home run proved FSU wasn’t going to roll over without landing a few counter blows.

But after delivering a staggering right hook in the first inning, the Beavers landed a knockout punch in the third with six runs scored, including a grand slam and a two-run home run to put the game out of FSU’s reach, despite their best comeback efforts.

The Beavers hit four home runs in the two innings, and scored six runs with two outs, with 11 of the 14 runs the team scored coming on the long ball.

The two innings counteracted what was FSU’s best offensive performance of the weekend as the Seminoles outhit their opponent 17-12, and scored runs in all but three innings, and held Oregon State scoreless after the fourth.

And FSU wasn’t without its opportunities to tie the game, as 10 runners were left on base, including two innings that ended with the bases loaded.

Ultimately, missed opportunities and three innings of poor pitch execution out of the 28 innings played in the series sent the Seminoles home, and not to Omaha.

“We fought, we had chances, believe it or not. This game, you could have looked up, and this thing could have been 14-14, and still going,” Jarrett said. “But some of the at-bats, some of those moments, we needed to do a little bit more, and we needed a crooked number.”

“And we were scoring… but we needed that big blow, that big one, and we didn’t get it.”

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney