2024 Season Ends in National Semifinals

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 8 Florida State saw its 2024 campaign come to an end with a 7-2 loss to No. 1 Tennessee Wednesday at the College World Series. The Seminoles finish 49-17, a 26-win improvement from last season that culminated in a spot in the national semifinals for the first time since 2012.

The Volunteers (58-12) advance to the College World Series finals beginning Saturday.

Tennessee scored three runs in the first inning on a fielder's choice, a single and a failed pick off. The Vols added runs in the second, fourth and seventh inning before a ninth-inning solo home run capped the scoring.

Florida State's best chance early was in the third inning, when Jaxson West singled and Max Williams doubled to open the frame. But West was thrown out at the plate before an inning-ending double play thwarted FSU's scoring opportunity.

The Noles finally chased UT starting pitcher Zander Sechrist (5-1) in the seventh inning with back-to-back home runs from Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise into the Volunteer bullpen in right field.

Freshman John Abraham (5-2) recorded one out in the first inning before veteran relievers Brennen Oxford (3.0, career-high 75 pitches) and Joe Charles (4.2 IP, five strikeouts, both career highs) entered in relief.

SCORING SUMMARY:
T1 | Tennessee 1, FSU 0            Amick reached on fielder's choice, Moore scored
T1 | Tennessee 2, FSU 0            Ensley singled, Amick scored
T1 | Tennessee 3, FSU 0            Dreiling scored on a throwing error
T2 | Tennessee 4, FSU 0            Burke singled, Moore scored
T4 | Tennessee 5, FSU 0            Moore tripled, Stark scored
T7 | Tennessee 6, FSU 0            Dreiling singled, Amick scored
B7 | Tennessee 6, FSU 1           Cantu home run (9^th, 367 ft)
B7 | Tennessee 6, FSU 2           Lodise home run (9^th, 359 ft)
T9 | Tennessee 7, FSU 2            Burke home run

OF NOTE:

A season after finishing last in the ACC and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 45 seasons, Florida State will finish tied for third nationally after a 26-win turnaround from a season ago. The 26-win improvement is double the previous-best year-over-year in program history (+13 wins from 2001 to 2002).
Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning, the ninth of the year for both. FSU hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive games to end the year and nine times this season.
FSU's 131 home runs as a team are tied for the second-most in program history (1982, 74 games) and trail only the 1985 team's 146 (82 games).
FSU hit a home run in 19 consecutive games to end the season, the second-longest streak in program history and trailing just the 21-game streak that directly preceded the current streak. FSU had a home run in 40 of the last 41 games and in 61 of 66 this year.
Lodise ended the season with a 23-game on-base streak, the longest of his career.
James Tibbs III hit a single in the sixth inning and ends the season tying his career-high 24-game on-base streak.
Max Williams was 2-for-4 with his 11^th double, ending the year with a career-high 11-game hitting streak and 21-game on-base streak. He had 19 multi-hit games, including three in the CWS.
Senior pitcher Brennen Oxford made his team-high 32^nd appearance of the season and third of the College World Series. He threw a career-high 75 pitches.
Joe Charles made his first appearance of the College World Series. His 30 appearances are a career high and second-most among FSU pitchers. He retired the first nine batters he faced and his 4.2 innings pitched and five strikeouts were both a career high.
Freshman pitcher John Abraham made his third start of the season and first of the postseason.

FROM THE NCAA:

Florida State finishes the season with 49-17 overall record, its most wins since finishing 50-17 in 2012.
Florida State dropped to 32-48 all-time at the MCWS. The Seminoles were making their 24th trip to the MCWS, the third-most of any school, and their first visit since 2019. The Seminoles were seeking their first title and remain as the only school with more than 15 MCWS appearances to have not won a title yet.
The Seminoles are 206-134 all-time in 60 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances. Their 206 wins are the second-most in NCAA history, trailing only Texas (257 wins, 63 appearances).
The Seminoles ended the season with 49 wins after finishing 23-31 last season. The 26-win improvement is the best year-over-year improvement in the Division I this season and the best in program history.
Head coach Link Jarrett fell to 3-4 as a head coach in the MCWS (2-2 at FSU), having also coached Notre Dame to a 1-2 mark in the MCWS in 2022. He is the 12th coach to lead multiple programs to a MCWS victory.
Link Jarrett dropped to 18-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in four NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach.
Link Jarrett is the 16th coach to lead multiple different programs to the MCWS and of those 16, he joins Mike Gillespie as the only man to do it after playing in multiple in MCWS as a student-athlete at Florida State. He is also one of two coaches (Brian O'Connor) this season that has been to the Division I Men's College World Series as a player and now a coach.
Florida State has won multiple games in a single trip to Omaha for the first time since 2012 and just the second time in its past six MCWS appearances. The Seminoles went 2-2 in 2012 and had three 1-2 seasons (2010, 2017 and 2019) and one winless trip to Omaha (2008) in the past 20 years.
With two home runs on Wednesday afternoon, Florida State hit 131 home runs this season, which ranks tied for the second-most in program history (146 in 1985; 131 in 1982). The Noles hit a home run in 61 of the 66 games this season.
FSU has now hit a home run in 19 straight games, dating back to a May 11th contest at Pitt. The 19 game HR streak is the second-longest streak in program history, trailing only the 21-game HR streak earlier this season.
Additionally, the Seminoles 78 home run improvement from last season is the largest improvement in the country, passing Austin Peay's 71-HR improvement from a season ago.
With only one walk on Wednesday, Florida State had drawn 63 walks in this year's NCAA Tournament, the most of any team in this year's field. Additionally, the Seminoles had drawn 23 walks in Omaha.
Despite not scoring in the third inning today, Florida State had outscored foes 89-30 in the third inning this year, including 9-1 in Omaha and 16-1 in its last eight games.
Florida State's 29 runs were its most through four games at the MCWS (24th appearance) (Previous high was 28 in 1999). The Seminoles 29 runs scored were also the second-most of any ACC team after four games in the MCWS, trailing only Clemson's 30 runs in 1996.
Florida State's 87 runs in seven games this NCAA Tournament (9.6 per game) are the second-most runs per game of any team this season in the tournament, trailing only Tennessee's (9.9 runs per game) Florida State and Tennessee had entered the game as the only other teams averaging at least 10 runs per game in the postseason.
Max Williams finished the day 2-for-4 with a singles and a double to extend his on-base streak to 21 straight games and his hit streak to 11 consecutive contests. His two hit day was part of his 19th multi-hit game of the season.
Marco Dinges finished Wednesday with a 1-for-4 showing at the plate, extending his on-base streak to 18 straight games.
Max Williams and Marco Dinges' 16 hits in this year's NCAA Tournament are tied for the second-most by any player in the tournament this season, behind Tennessee's Blake Burke's 17 hits.
James Tibbs III pushed his active team-leading on-base streak to 24 straight games after blooping a single into center in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Despite not recording a hit on Wednesday, Cam Smith finished the season ranked second nationally behind Tennessee's Christian Moore (109) with 106 hits this season.
Daniel Cantu opened the scoring for the Seminoles in the bottom of the seventh inning, blasting his ninth home run of the season into the right field bullpen.
Alex Lodise followed with his ninth home run of the season with a 359-foot solo shot to right. It was the ninth time this season that Florida State has recorded back-to-back home runs in a game.
Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise's back-to-back home runs were just the fifth time players have hit back-to-back homers at the MCWS since the move to Charles Schwab Field Omaha in 2011 (Florida State's Jaxson West and Max Williams in 2024, Florida's Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone in 2023, Ole Miss's TJ McCants, Calvin Harris and Justin Bench in 2022 and Florida State's Quince Nieporte and Cal Raleigh in 2017). Florida State has been responsible for 3 of the 5 instances of back-to-back home runs in the MCWS since the move to Charles Schwab Field Omaha in 2011.
Back in 2017, Florida State's Quincy Nieporte and Cal Raleigh hit the first back-to-back homers in stadium history when the did it in the 9th inning vs. LSU (they actually did it on back-to-back pitches).
John Abraham made just his third start of the year, falling to 5-2 overall after allowing three runs on two hits in 0.1 innings pitched.
John Abraham becoming the fifth Florida State starting pitcher to record one of fewer outs in the MCWS and the first since Brandon Leibrandt in 2012 vs. Arizona. This was the third time in the 2024 MCWS that a starting pitcher has recorded one or fewer outs in a game (Tennessee's Chris Stamos vs. FSU, 0.1 IP & Kentucky's Dominic Niman vs. Florida, 0.1 IP).

For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, and keep up with the team on social media through X and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram (@NoleBaseball).

Team Stats

Max Williams

James Tibbs III

Marco Dinges

Daniel Cantu

Players Mentioned

John Abraham

Daniel Cantu

Joe Charles

Marco Dinges

Alex Lodise

Brennen Oxford

Cam Smith

James Tibbs III

Jaxson West

Max Williams

Florida State University Athletics