⚾: Noles Beat UCLA, Move to Winner’s Bracket in Auburn Regional

AUBURN, ALA. – Three-seed Florida State (34-23) beat two-seed UCLA (38-23) Friday 5-3 to record the first win of the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament. FSU advances to the winner’s bracket and will play either Auburn or SE Louisiana Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Parker Messick (7-5) allowed a pair of runs with four strikeouts in 5.0 innings for his first win away from Dick Howser Stadium this season. Wyatt Crowell, Jonah Scolaro and Davis Hare combined for four innings out of the bullpen, with the only run scoring on a wild pitch. Hare recorded five outs for his team-high fourth save of the season.

The Seminoles took an early lead against UCLA’s Max Rajcic (8-5). With two outs in the first, Jaime Ferrer doubled and scored on James Tibbs’ RBI single, the first at-bat in the NCAA Tournament for both true freshmen.

Messick allowed a leadoff single before retiring the next 10 Bruins batters. Rajcic sat down 11 straight before Colton Vincent singled, Tyler Martin walked and Jordan Carrion hit his first triple of the season to extend FSU’s lead to 3-0 in the fifth.

Messick retired the first two batters of the fifth before UCLA responded with two runs – on a solo home run from Carson Yates and an RBI single by Jake Palmer. Messick threw 85 pitches over 5.0 innings, with four strikeouts and four hits allowed.

Tibbs drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, moved to third on Brett Roberts’ double and scored on Reese Albert’s groundout. Rajcic allowed four runs over 6.0 innings.

Crowell loaded the bases with three walks in the sixth, but escaped without allowing a run. The Bruins did cut the lead to 4-3 in the eighth on a wild pitch, but Hare stranded a runner on third to maintain the lead.

Alex Toral smashed a solo home run in the ninth – his team-best 15^th of the year – to provide the final margin.

SCORING SUMMARY:

T1 | FSU 1, UCLA 0   Tibbs singled, Ferrer scored
T5 | FSU 3, UCLA 0   Carrion tripled, Vincent & Martin scored
B5 | FSU 3, UCLA 1   Yates home run
B5 | FSU 3, UCLA 2   Palmer singled, Oyama scored
T6 | FSU 4, UCLA 2   Albert grounded out, Tibbs scored
B8 | FSU 4, UCLA 3   Gourson scored on a wild pitch
T9 | FSU 5, UCLA 3   Toral home run

UP NEXT:

Florida State will play top-seed Auburn Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET. LHP Bryce Hubbart (8-2) will throw for the Seminoles.

OF NOTE:

• Freshman Jaime Ferrer hit two doubles Friday, extending his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 11 games. He leads FSU with 19 doubles, and his 68 hits are the most for an FSU freshman since Cal Raleigh had 69 in 2016.
• Ferrer scored FSU’s first run on a James Tibbs single, tying him with Brett Roberts for most on the team with 38. The run was the first scored in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
• Ferrer leads FSU with 17 multi-hit games this season. His .322 batting average is also best on the team.
• Jordan Carrion extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run triple in the fifth inning. His hitting streak and 12-game on-base streak are the longest on the team.
• FSU has seven triples on the season, more than the 2020 and 2021 seasons combined (5).
• In the sixth inning, Brett Roberts hit his 18^th double. Roberts’ last three hits have been doubles and he is now hitting .301 for the season.
• Parker Messick struck out four batters in 5.0 innings and now ranks 8^th in FSU single-season history with 144.
• Tyler Martin singled and stole a base. He is now 4-for-4 on stolen base tries.
• Players making their first NCAA Tournament appearance: Jordan Carrion, Jaime Ferrer, James Tibbs, Brett Roberts, Colton Vincent, Wyatt Crowell and Treyton Rank.
• Florida State improved to 2-0 all-time against UCLA, with both games taking place in the NCAA Tournament (4-1 in the 2012 College World Series).
• FSU has now won 11 of its past 13 against Top 25 teams in the D1Baseball poll (UCLA is ranked 19^th this week).
• The Noles have won the opening game in six straight regionals away from Tallahassee (last loss was vs. Eastern Michigan in Austin, Texas in 1982).

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 Twitter and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram and TikTok (@NoleBaseball).