FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Tallahassee, Fla. – Baseball fans witnessed history on Monday afternoon on Mike Martin Field inside Dick Howser Stadium as junior Buster Posey played all nine fielding positions in Florida State’s 10-0 victory over Savannah State. The win completed the four-game sweep of the Tigers as fourth-ranked FSU (44-8) outscored Savannah State (20-25) 76-10 in the series.
Posey became just the fourth Seminole in the Mike Martin era to play all nine positions in a game joining Mark Barineau, Jose Marzan and Mike Martin, Jr. Martin, Jr., was the last Florida State student-athlete to perform the feat as he played every position against Furman back in 1994.
“To see Buster play all nine positions just shows you what kind of talent the guys has,” said head coach Mike Martin. “At no time was I ever worried about a ball being hit to him. Buster looked very comfortable every where he was so that just goes to show you what kind of athlete that he is.”
Posey started the game at catcher and played every infield position from the second to the fifth inning. He made the move to first base in the second, played second base in the third, shifted over to shortstop in the fourth and completed the rotation playing third base in the fifth. The Leesburg, Ga., native made his first collegiate appearance in the outfield in the sixth as he started in left field to begin the inning and shifted over to center with two outs. He the moved to the mound in the seventh and struck out both batters that he faced before moving to right field for the final out of the inning. Posey registered a putout in the field as he was on the receiving end of the first out of the second inning at first base.
“First base was probably the weirdest position for me to play just because I’ve never really played there before,” added Posey. “In the Cape Cod League this summer, I played left and right field in two separate games. Center field was the one position I have never played.”
On top of playing all nine positions, Posey went 1-for-3 at the plate connecting on his second grand slam of the series in the bottom of the second. Posey took the first pitch that he saw from Tiger starter Alford Arnold (2-6) and hit the ball over the fence in right for his third career grand slam. He finished the game with four RBIs and two runs scored.
The Seminoles tallied runs in the first and second innings on Monday extending their consecutive inning scoring streak to 13. FSU took an early 2-0 lead in the first as Jason Stidham tripled off the wall in right scoring Tyler Holt. Holt led off the inning with a walk to extend his streak of reaching base to all 52 games this season. Stidham would score three batters later on a sacrifice fly to center by Dennis Guinn.
FSU took a 6-0 lead in the second on the grand slam by Posey. Tommy Oravetz started the inning with a bunt single down the line at third for one of his three hits on the afternoon. Parker Brunelle and Holt issued back-to-back walks and two batters later Posey brought them all home on his team leading 16th round tripper of the season. The home run also put him a top the ACC.
Florida State increased its lead 8-0 as the first two batters to reach base scored. Posey led off the inning with a walk followed by an infield single to second by Jack Rye. Posey would come around to score on a double down the left field line by Guinn. Rye scored the second run of the inning as Arnold was called for a balk.
The Garnet and Gold added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Brunelle to score Ohmed Danesh, who registered a one out single. The game was called in the bottom of the seventh due to the run rule as Mike McGee scored the tenth run on a wild pitch. McGee led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a double to right center by Tyler Everett. It was Everett’s first career hit.
Seminole starting pitcher Bo O’Dell moved to 5-1 on the year as the junior right hander fired five shutout innings. He allowed just three hits, while walking one and posting three strikeouts.
McGee, Posey and Everett also saw action on the mound contributing to the shutout. It was the second shutout posted by the Seminoles this year and the first since blanking Maryland 16-0 in game two of a doubleheader back on March 8, 2008.
Savannah State’s Alford Arnold went the distance allowing 10 runs on 11 hits. The senior right hander walked 10 and struck out five as he tallied 158 pitches in final appearance on the diamond.
Florida State will conclude its regular season schedule with a three-game set against NC State beginning Thursday, May 15 at Dick Howser Stadium. First pitch for all three games is slated for 7:06 p.m. Fans can watch all three games live on Sun Sports, while gametracker will also be available for the contests. The game will be heard live over the radio on 1270 the Team (Thursday and Friday) and 100.7 FM (Saturday) with Eric Luallen bringing you all the play-by-play action.
