An unlikely player launched a grand slam to drive Florida State to a regional title in the NCAA baseball tournament.
Brett Knief, who had never homered in an NCAA Division I game, powered top-seeded FSU to an 11-4 victory over third-seeded Troy at Howser Stadium. His grand slam in the fourth inning put the Seminoles ahead 9-3 as they rolled to their 19th straight regional win.
FSU, the No. 7 seed nationally, will host a best-of-three super regional series against Indiana that will start Friday or Saturday.
“We’re elated to be in the position we’re in, but we also know there’s a very good team coming in here,” coach Mike Martin said. “It’s gonna be a real challenge. It’s gonna be fun.”
Florida State (47-15) trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth before erupting for seven runs.
The Seminoles tied the score at 3 when catcher Stephen McGee, a former Port St. Lucie High School standout, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. They added two more on Marcus Davis’ double to left field, and then Knief hit his grand slam off the left-field scoreboard.
“I’m just excited to help our team in any way,” he said. “I have a role on this team, and it’s all anyone can ask for.”
Florida State’s offense was explosive in the regional, as the Seminoles beat Savannah State 10-0 on Friday and Troy 11-0 on Saturday. It was a strong turnaround for a team that scored just nine runs in three games during the ACC tournament the previous week.
The pitching was equally good. The Seminoles threw 20 straight shutout innings before Troy’s Logan Pierce broke through with an RBI double Sunday off starter Brandon Leibrandt.
Scott Sitz threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the first game, and Luke Weaver followed with 14 strikeouts in eight shutout innings Saturday. Weaver, who pitched through a sinus infection, was voted by the media as the Most Outstanding Player of the regional.
“To do what we did is certainly an accomplishment that is gonna be very hard for the future guys to match if we get to a regional next year,” Martin said of the overall pitching performance.
Leibrandt (10-4) couldn’t match Sitz and Weaver. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits and exited after the fifth inning.
The bullpen picked him up, though. Gage Smith gave up one hit and didn’t allow a run in two innings of relief. Billy Strode, from American Heritage, kept Troy (42-20) silent in the eighth inning as well. Robby Coles ended it with a scoreless ninth.
This is the sixth straight season Florida State has reached a super regional, and the Seminoles went on to the College World Series three of the past five years. FSU is chasing the first national championship in program history.
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