Florida State got the day it needed and then had to do it again. After beating Coastal Carolina 2-1 in a rain-hit game that stretched from Saturday into Sunday, the No. 10 seed Seminoles were back at Dick Howser Stadium on Sunday night for an elimination game against Northern Illinois in the Tallahassee Regional.
That is why the FSU baseball score mattered so sharply on Sunday. The Seminoles had already survived one pressure game, and the winner of the matchup with the Huskies was set to move on to Monday’s regional final, where another win over St. John’s would still be required. Florida State entered at 39-18, Northern Illinois at 36-18, and the bracket left no room for a slip.
Florida State’s first win of the day came behind Cal Fisher, who went 2-for-3 and delivered the go-ahead solo home run in the fifth inning against Coastal Carolina. Trey Beard handled the finish, striking out nine of the 14 batters he faced, walking the first hitter he saw and then retiring the next 10. It was his first save of the season, and it kept Florida State in position for the elimination game that followed. Northern Illinois, meanwhile, reached Sunday after opening the regional with a 12-10 win over Coastal Carolina on Friday before being routed 21-8 by St. John’s earlier in the day.
The Seminoles needed more than a clean script to get through the eighth against Northern Illinois. They had tied the game, but the Huskies had taken a 4-3 lead in the top half before turning to Danny Cihocki, who had also pitched Friday and had already thrown 67 pitches. Florida State answered in the bottom half, yet the inning still ended with Gabe Fraser grounding out to strand Chase Williams at third as the go-ahead run. The Seminoles stranded six runners and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, the kind of missed chances that can erase the comfort of a comeback in a regional this tight.
The middle innings had already turned messy. Florida State’s defense let Northern Illinois load the bases with no outs in the seventh after two errors, and the Seminoles were then forced to turn to Brodie Purcell with the bases loaded and two outs while trailing 4-3. Purcell retired the first batter he faced to stop that rally, but the damage was already on the board when Cole Smith drew a bases-loaded walk. Northern Illinois’ Chris Knier also made it hard on Florida State, allowing one run in 3.1 innings with five strikeouts, striking out the side in the sixth and finishing with a career-high five strikeouts while allowing only one batter to reach in 2.2 innings before Brayden Dowd could not see a ball in the lights.
Florida State still had one more step to take on Sunday, and the bracket did not care how it got there. The Seminoles had to survive Northern Illinois first, then come back Monday and beat St. John’s twice if they wanted the Tallahassee Regional to end on their terms.
