No. 26 Troy’s Run Ends in Tallahassee Regional Championship Game

Sunday, June 2

Tallahassee, Fla.

4:00 p.m.

Troy University

Florida State

Photo by: Ross Obley

No. 26 Troy’s Run Ends in Tallahassee Regional Championship Game

6/2/2013 8:52:00 PM | Baseball

By: Adam Prendergast

Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 26 Troy's run in the NCAA Tournament came to an end in an 11-4 loss to No. 9 Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional Championship Game Sunday evening at Dick Howser Stadium.

The Sun Belt Conference champion Trojans finish their season 42-20 after the second appearance in a regional championship game in school history (2006 Tuscaloosa Regional). Troy's 42 wins are the sixth most in school history and the third most in the Division I era.

Troy advanced to the title game of the Tallahassee Regional following a dramatic 9-8 victory over Alabama earlier in the day. The Trojans scored one in the eighth and four in the ninth inning to rally from an 8-4 deficit; Troy only had one hour and 46 minutes between its two games.

Clay Holcomb gave Troy a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning after a one-out single by Brandon Brown and a walk by Garrett Pitts. Holcomb, who finished 3-for-3, poked a single into center field to plate Brown.

A controversial call followed when Tyler Vaughn grounded to third and the throw from Jose Brizuela was low and skidded all the way down the right-field line. Third base umpire Rickey Scarbery called the ball fair, but home plate umpire Jim Schaly called the ball foul and his call stood. Pitts would have scored easily on the overthrow and Holcomb could have possibly scored as well.

Florida State (47-15), who has now won 19 straight NCAA Regional games, answered with seven runs in the bottom half of the fourth; including five unearned runs. Following a hit batter with the bases loaded, Marcus Davis gave the Seminoles the lead with a two-run double into the gap in left center.

A walk to John Nogowski ended a solid outing by game one winner Jeremy McGowan and Nate Hill struck out Brizuela for the second out of the inning. Hill, who was making his record 102^nd career appearance as a Trojan, hung a 1-1 breaking ball to Brett Knief, who took it out of the park for a grand slam.

Trae Santos capped a remarkable season with his 18^th homer of the year – a solo shot -- in the fifth. Santos' 18 homers are the eighth most in school history and the most since the BBCOR bats were introduced in 2011; the junior first baseman also finished with 70 RBIs, the third most in Troy history and most since 2006.

Santos and Josh McDorman were both named to the Tallahassee Regional All-Tournament Team. Santos hit .455 (5-for-11) with two home runs, four RBIs, a .571 on-base percentage and a 1.571 OPS. McDorman finished his weekend batting at a .417 clip (5-for-12) with three RBIs, two doubles and a .563 on-base percentage.

Troy and Florida State finished the game tied with 11 hits each as Santos finished 3-for-4 and Danny Collins went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Giovanny Alfonzo led Florida State with three hits in four at-bats while DJ Stewart had a pair of hits.

Florida State tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Stephen McGee with two outs and the bases loaded.

The Seminoles got on the board first with an unearned run in the first inning on a muffed catch by the Trojans. The frame could have been worse, but McGowan came out of the bullpen to work out of a bases loaded, no-out jam.

McGowan (2-1) was charged with the loss after he allowed seven runs – three earned – on four hits in 3.1 innings of work. William Teal pitched well over the final 2.1 innings of his Troy career before Matthew Howard closed out the game with 1.2 scoreless frames.

Troy's All-America combo of Logan Pierce and Collins struck in the third with back-to-back two-out hits to give the Trojans the lead. Pitts led off the frame with a double and scored on Pierce's single to left. Collins followed with his 25^th double of the season to score Pierce and put Troy up 2-1.

Brizuela tied the game with a two-out homer in the home half of the third; it was his fourth home run of the season. Brandon Leibrandt (10-4) was credited with the win but had his difficulties with the Trojans. He allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings of work. Three Seminoles pitchers combined for four scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Florida State advances to its sixth consecutive Super Regional, which is the longest active streak in the country. The Seminoles will host either Indiana or Austin Peay next weekend.