Florida State baseball’s season came to a close on Monday afternoon as the Seminoles fell to St. John’s 5-4 in the Tallahassee Regional final, with FSU unable to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
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It was a familiar script for FSU’s losses this season, and even though Link Jarrett’s team will be disappointed not to make it out of their regional, they have only themselves to blame. The Red Storm mustered only three hits, but one was a grand slam, and the winning run was unearned. Florida State went 2-14 with runners on base and 1-7 with runners in scoring position. The Noles could not push out their 2-0 lead, and once they fell behind by three runs, there was not enough juice in the batting order to overcome the deficit. Florida State has to win by script, and once this game got off script, it got late fast in Tallahassee.
On the offensive side, Cal Fisher provided almost all of the offense, going 2-for-2 with two homers, three RBIs, and two walks, but there was not much behind him. Aside from the two blasts, FSU recorded only one other extra-base hit and never managed to string positive at-bats together. Four of the top five batters in the Seminole lineup did not record a hit as the best players on the Florida State offense did not have their best. Ultimately, scoring only four runs against St. John’s is not good enough, and it cost the Seminoles their season.
On the mound, Link Jarrett and Micah Posey did their best to piece the game together, but with how thin the Noles were, it did them in. Payton Manca could only go three innings as the Red Storm continued to work up the pitch count, forcing John Abraham into the game. Abraham tried to give what he could, but he was not at 100%, and it cost him, as he gave up a grand slam to make it a 4-2 game. Kevin Mebil and Gabe Nard combined for three innings with only one unearned run, but without enough offense, it was not enough.
After a quiet start offensively for both teams in the first two innings, Cal Fisher opened the scoring in the top of the third. Fisher drilled a pitch on the outer edge of the plate over the right-field fence for a lead-off solo homer, giving his team a 1-0 advantage. Payton Manca responded with his first 1-2-3 innings of the day as he posted three scoreless frames to start the game.
But that would be all for Manca, as he walked the leadoff batter and gave way to John Abraham, setting in motion the bullpen wheels for the next six innings. John Abraham was the first man called upon, and although he gave up a base on balls, he retired the next three Red Storm batters, aided by a pop-out bunt, as the Noles got out of their first serious jam.
Florida State doubled its lead in the top of the fifth. John Stuetzer reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pickoff attempt. With two away in the inning, Brody DeLamielleure laced his third of the day up the middle to score Stuetzer and make it a 2-0 ballgame. FSU had a chance to push out further with two on and two out, but Hunter Carns struck out looking to keep the margin at two.
However, Florida State’s lead quickly evaporated as Abraham labored. Two walks and a single loaded the bases for St. John’s with one out. After Abraham recorded a strikeout, Adam Agresti mashed the first pitch of his at-bat deep to center for a grand slam that turned the game on its head and put FSU behind, 4-2. It was clear that Abraham was not at his best, but Jarrett had no choice but to leave him in with a thin bullpen.
The game continued to work away from the Seminoles in the sixth. Kevin Mebil entered, but did not get any help from his defense. Ben Barrett and Carter McCulley almost collided on a line drive, causing Barrett to drop the ball, and a runner reached base on an error. After a fielder’s choice moved the runner over, back-to-back wild pitches scored SJU’s fifth run of the game and put the Nole season on a knife-edge.
Florida State had a chance to get back in the game in the seventh as the 8-9 reached base, but the top of the Seminole lineup went down in order, including DeLamielleure grounding out on the first pitch of his at-bat with both runners in scoring position and two outs.
After a quiet eighth, the Noles would not go quietly into the night. Fraser reached base on a drag bunt, and two batters later, Fisher smoked his second home run of the day, this one a two-run blast, to pull Florida State within a run. Dowd kept the game alive with a two-out walk, but that would be all FSU could muster. DeLamielleure took two fastballs over the heart of the plate, including strike three looking, as the Seminoles fell to St. John’s 5-4.
It will be a long offseason for Florida State after it became clear, as the season went on, that this roster lacked enough talent across the board and kept making the same mistakes. At the end of the day, when teams tell you who they are, believe them. For the 2026 Seminole baseball team, this result should not be a surprise.