When Florida State is run-ruled at home on back-to-back days, it's a result of poor hitting, pitching and at times fielding.
But the bullpen blues were a major issue in all three games, even a 5-4 walk-off win on Friday night. FSU's bullpen logged a heavy workload in the three games against Wake Forest, allowing 16 earned runs in 12.2 innings.
The hits, walks and wild pitches piled up, contributing to a 12-0 loss on Saturday and a 17-2 defeat on Sunday.
"It’s not a strike-throwing contest," FSU coach Link Jarrett said. "You’re trying to pitch. And there are going to be some walks. But ultimately the command and the execution trumps all you do out there."
Let's start with two critical points: Wake is a very good hitting team and neither Joey Volini (2.1 innings) nor Wes Mendes (4.0 innings) went very deep in their starts. But consider these numbers from the bullpen:
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Innings | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
Earned runs | 4 | 5 | 7 |
Hits | 5 | 3 | 11 |
Walks | 5 | 4 | 4 |
Wild pitches | 3 | 2 | 1 |
HBP | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Strikeouts | 5 | 5 | 4 |
Jamie Arnold gave FSU an impressive start on Friday, tossing five shutout innings and striking out 10 while giving up just two hits and two walks. But Chris Knier ran into trouble immediately, giving up three runs without recording an out, and Maison Martinez allowed a run in his inning of work. There were bright spots, with Joe Charles throwing two shutout innings and Peyton Prescott picking up the win with a scoreless ninth.
But trouble popped up on Saturday and Sunday, too. Ben Barrett gave up three runs in less than an inning on Saturday. Like Friday night, there were some bright spots. Payton Manca ate up three innings on Saturday (allowing just an earned run), and it was a good appearance to allow FSU to keep some arms fresh for a chance to win the series Sunday. But Prescott (four runs, one earned), Knier (three earned runs) and John Abraham (three earned runs) all ran into significant trouble on Sunday.
"We could not get out of our own way on the mound," Jarrett said. "And they absolutely made us pay for any mistake. And the mistakes came in the form of not landing some good secondary pitches to get them off the fastball. And then when you’re in situations to really try to expand and put people away we did not do that either."
It's tough to paint with a broad brush — not everyone is to blame for the bullpen struggles. But there ...
