The Florida State Seminoles headed north to take on the Boston College Eagles in the first game of an important three game set for both schools. The Eagles sent sophomore RHP Mike Dennhardt to the hill who had a 3-6 record and an ERA of 6.39 while Florida State countered with sophomore LHP Sean Gilmartin who was 6-4 with a 3.80 ERA.
Florida State got off to a great start to the game with Tyler Holt getting a lead off walk which was followed by a Stephen Cardullo homer over the left field fence to give the Seminoles the early 2-0 lead. Florida State would scratch across another run in the inning on two more hits to give the Noles the 3-0 lead after the top of the first. BC leadoff hitter Robbie Anston would lead off the bottom of the first with a long homer over the right field wall to cut the FSU lead down to 3-1.
The score would remain 3-1 until the fourth inning when the Eagles would explode for five runs on four hits and three walks. The inning started off with a John Spatola walk on five pitches. Matt Watson would follow with a ringing single to right field on a 3-0 pitch to put runners on the corners with no outs. Anthony Melchionda would follow with a double to the left-center field gap to drive in both runs to tie the game up at 3. After a flyout to left field by Andrew Lawrence, Brad Zapensas would move Melchoinda to third on an infield single to second base to put runners on the corners. Garrett Smith would follow with a single up the middle to drive in Melchoinda from third and Smith would take second on a throw to third base to try to get Zapensas at third which was late. The single by Smith would give BC the 4-3 lead and end the day for Gilmartin as he was replaced by John Gast. He would proceed to struggle with his control as he would walk Robbie Anston to load the bases and then Matt Hamlet to force in a run to make it 5-3. Mickey Wiswall would then hit a groundball to first base which the only play was at first so Zapensas would score and give BC the 6-3 lead. Finally, John Gast would be able to get out of the inning by getting John Spatola to ground out to second base to end the inning. Gilmartin’s line ended up pitching 3.1 innings allowing seven hits, six runs, two walks and three strikeouts.
BC would take on another run in the fifth inning as Brad Zapensas had a two out double to left-center field to drive home Melchionda from first base to extend the Boston College lead to 7-3. Florida State would break through in the top of the sixth for two runs with one run coming home on a Stephen Cardullo groundout to third and a Mike McGee two out single to left which cut the BC lead to 7-5. FSU would also tack on another run in the top of the seventh on a two out RBI double by Rafael Lopez to left center field to cut the BC lead down to 7-6.
Boston College in the bottom of the seventh would grab three runs in the inning as they needed to expand the lead. RHP Daniel Bennett would start the inning on the hill for the Seminoles. He would promptly get Anthony Melchionda to ground out to third base for the first out of the inning on his first pitch. Andrew Lawrence would follow with an infield single up the middle which was stopped by FSU second baseman Devon Travis but he could not make the play. Boston College would send Lawrence in motion on the first pitch to Brad Zapensas who would hit it right where FSU shortstop Stephen Cardullo was standing to put runners on first and second. Bennett would then get Garret Smith to strike out swinging for the second out. In an interesting move, Mike Martin Sr. decided to lift Bennett in favor of Geoff Parker to face Robbie Anston. The first pitch to Anston was a fastball right down the pipe which Anston put over the right field scoreboard to give the Eagles the 10-6 lead.
FSU would get a leadoff homer in the top of the eighth by Stephen Cardullo to cut the BC lead to 10-7 but that was as close as the Noles would get. Matt Brazis would get the final three outs in the ninth to pick up the save for the Eagles. Mike Dennhardt picked up the win by going 5.2 innings while allowing eight hits, four walks and five runs while striking out five batters. His record is now 4-6. Gilmartin picks up the loss for the Seminoles by going 3.1 innings allowing seven hits, six runs, two walks, striking out three. His record drops down to 6-5 on the year.
