Troy's Comeback Falls Short in Series-Opener at No. 20 Florida State

Friday, April 30

Tallahassee, Fla.

5 p.m.

Troy University

20-20

Florida State

22-15

Troy

Florida State

Troy's Comeback Falls Short in Series-Opener at No. 20 Florida State

4/30/2021 8:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

Tallahassee, Fla. – Troy came up just short in its comeback effort against No. 20 Florida State Friday night in Tallahassee. The Trojans crossed two runs in the seventh inning to pull within one of the Seminoles, but couldn't muster the tying run as they fell, 3-2, inside Dick Howser Stadium.

True freshman Garrett Gainous (6-4) didn't back down on the biggest stage he's seen this season as he tallied his sixth quality start of the year. The righty struck out nine – one shy of tying his season high – walked two and allowed three runs in 6.1 innings of work.

Troy out hit the Seminoles in the contest, 10-7, behind multi-hit outings from Logan Cerny (3-for-4, RBI), Jesse Hall (2-for-4) and Donovan Whibbs (2-for-4, RBI).

Florida State jumped out to an early lead, capitalizing on aggressive base running to plate the game's first run in the opening frame before a two-run homer in the fourth gave the Seminoles a 3-0 lead.

Clay Stearns and Hall each doubled to open the seventh inning, but Stearns was thrown out at the plate on a 9-6-2 relay. Troy finally broke through after Nic Nolan and Whibbs each singled to score Hall. Cerny then connected on his third hit of the game to pull the Trojans within 3-2.

Gainous exited the game to a sizable applause from the Trojan faithful with one out in the seventh inning, giving way to Lance Johnson who stranded a Seminole on third. Max Newton recorded two outs on three pitches in the eighth to give Troy one more chance in the ninth.

Seminole reliever Jack Anderson wouldn't allow the Trojans to get a hit in the final two innings, however, halting Troy's comeback bid to earn the save. Parker Messick (5-2) was the pitcher of record for Florida State.

Quotable – Head coach Mark Smartt
"It was a great game tonight, I hate that we came up short. We did a lot of really good things, starting with Garrett Gainous. He gave us every opportunity to win the game and our bullpen was terrific after him. We played a high-level game tonight and so did they. They outscored us by one run, but we did a lot of good things tonight."

Sound Smartt With Your Friends
Donovan Whibbs is 10-for-16 with (.625) in his four games since returning from injury. The second baseman recorded his fifth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4, one RBI outing in the series-opener.

Notable

Garrett Gainous recorded his sixth quality start of the year after lasting 6.1 innings and allowing three runs. The freshman posted nine strikeouts in the outing, his second-highest total of the season.
With three hits on the night, Logan Cerny now has 14 multi-hit outings this season and 32 in his career.
Jesse Hall has hit safely in seven of the last eight games and has four multi-hit performances over the stretch.

Up Next
Troy looks to even the series with No. 20 Florida State Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT).