Jacksonville defeated Florida State at home for the first time since March 3, 2009. The win marks the fourth in two years over a top-20 ranked team for head coach Tim Montez who took over the program last season.
"Anytime you can beat one of the big teams," said Montez. "Its not only big for our program, but for the University as a whole and for the city of Jacksonville."
Redshirt-junior Jeff Tanner (1-0) gets his first win as a Dolphin after missing last season with Tommy John surgery. He struck out a career-high eight batters, and went a career-high five innings in the victory.
With a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning, senior Justin Russell came in for a relief appearance and set the heart of the Seminole's line-up down in order. The Jacksonville native would return to the mound in the ninth, and encounter traffic on the base paths. After getting the second batter faced to fly-out to senior Cameron Gibson (2-for-3), Russell would force a groundball to sophomore Alex Seifert (0-for-2) at third, but Dylan Busby beat the throw at second.
A single loaded the bases for FSU in the ninth and on came Disch to close the door. After a loud fly ball to Gibson in center, confusion struck the Seminoles on the bases and two runners were standing on second. Alert, Seifert delivered the throw to junior Connor Marabell (0-for-3) at first where he applied the tag to Danny De La Calle who was trying to stretch a single into a double—for the second out of the inning.
The sophomore would close the door on the second and third threat, with a nasty changeup in the dirt. It was his first save in his young Dolphin career.
Bases loaded and a cold-windy night in Jacksonville—throw in first save opportunity and a 5-3 lead against the No. 12 ranked Florida State team.
"My mindset was loose from the time I started warming up in the bullpen," said Disch. "I was confident in all my pitches and used what I was comfortable with what I was delivering."
Doesn't take long for a kid from Wisconsin (currently -2 degrees) to get warm in brisk Jacksonville, Florida.
"Na. This is nothing," said a quarter-sleeved Disch.
Shortly after the game, the campus of JU lost power. True to the way the pitching was on the evening--servicing a chair to 15 batters.
"When it's a cold windy night like that Russell easy eighth inning," said Montez "You roll him out in the ninth. Disch made some huge pitches when he had to. The job that young Spencer continues to make is huge for us and where we are headed."
In the sixth inning, Montez would return to the true freshman Spencer Stockton for the hold, up 4-2. Stockton would continue to impress, throwing two innings of no-hit baseball and setting down five-of-the-six batters he faced in strikeout fashion, five to add to his nine in three appearances.
"Getting my feet wet with MTSU, was a big help," said Stockton. "A little different situation than my last two outings; up by three against an FSU team that's ranked, but you don't want to look at all that stuff. I knew they were going to fail more times than they were going to succeed at the plate—that's just baseball. I have the power on the mound and you just trust that your stuff is better than their stuff in that situation. You have to believe that your preparation is better than theirs."
Stockton put his trust in the defense behind him, which gave him the confidence to perform.
"Our defense is always outstanding," said Stockton. "I knew that if I maybe gave a hard ground ball, I knew that the guys behind me are going to make that play for without a doubt, and that is an amazing feeling. Overall, just to get a W, to get back to .500-- that's a performance we can really replicate and produce every night."
Offensively, the Dolphins would strike in the first inning after Gibson would score on a throwing error by FSU—landing on third by way of senior Angelo Amendolare (0-for-2)—who reached base for the fourth-consecutive game—and Marabell who accomplished the same feat.
Jacksonville would put up two runs in the fourth inning after sophomore Austin Hays (1-for-4) singled, then junior Dylan Dillard (1-for-4) doubled to left field and there were two on for the once FSU-freshman and current Fins junior JJ Gould (1-for-4) who would clear the bases with his first double of the young season.
JU would tack on one more in the seventh inning, after the table was set by a Seifert walk, followed by a Gibson bunt-single and another Amendolare walk. Marabell drew the walk for his fourth-consecutive game with an RBI, to round out the scoring for the Dolphins.
A LOOK AHEAD
Jacksonville will remain at home for the next three-games as Coppin State comes into town for a double-header on Saturday, Feb. 21 and one game on Sunday, Feb. 22, before JU travels for the first time in 2015 with another weekday matchup in Tallahassee for FSU part II.
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