The ending only made it more painful for the Florida State baseball team.


Listless, lifeless and practically hitless over the previous 17 innings, the Seminoles stormed back to score five runs in the bottom of the ninth against Alabama in the elimination game of the Tallahassee Regional.





The Democrat's Corey Clark wraps up Florida State's season-ending loss to Alabama, 6-5, in the Tallahassee Regional.





But pinch-hitter Gage West's fly ball to left center, with two outs and two on, was tracked down and the Crimson Tide held for a 6-5 win. And just like that, FSU's season was over.


It was the first time since 1984 that the Seminoles went winless in the postseason.


"It hurts all of us that we came up short," FSU head coach Mike Martin said. "But it doesn't take away from the fact that I thanked the team for a great season. One that I'll always remember because of the way they fought through adversity. … It's just very gratifying for me as a coach to be a part of it."


The last inning notwithstanding, the weekend was a baffling display by a team that was ranked in the Top 5 all season long and spent multiple weeks at No. 1. After being shut out 7-0 by No. 4 seed Georgia Southern on Friday night, the Seminoles were shut out for the first eight innings on Saturday as well.


Until the final inning they had managed just six hits all weekend. Three of those were infield singles. And none were for extra bases. Meanwhile, FSU pitchers had allowed 25 hits over that same span, including four homers and 10 doubles.


"I wish I could tell you, man," FSU junior first baseman John Nogowski said when asked about the offensive woes. "I felt like we put good at-bats together. We hit some balls hard. I feel like the last two games, both those guys pitched absolutely phenomenal. They didn't make many mistakes.


"That's baseball. We could have gone up there and scored five in the first inning of the first game. It's just one of those things."


It wasn't just the offense that was disappointing over the weekend though.


The pitching and defense weren't exactly sharp either.


After junior Mike Compton went just 1 1/3 innings on Friday night, No. 1 starter Luke Weaver went just five on Saturday against the Crimson Tide. The only earned run he allowed was a solo homer to Alabama's Mikey White to lead off the third, but a two-out error by third baseman Jose Brizuela in the fifth led to two unearned runs and a 3-0 lead for Alabama.


Weaver was pulled after 90 pitches.


"The first couple of innings were pretty sharp," said the junior righty, who is expected to be an early-round selection in this week's MLB Draft and has likely pitched his final game in a Seminole uniform. "Everything felt good. And then after getting settled in they did a good job of adjusting. … From then on it was just a grind-out game for me."


Gage Smith took over for Weaver in the sixth and got shelled in the seventh, allowing two singles and a long home run to Alabama's Wade Wass.


Closer Jameis Winston, also likely his last game in a Florida State baseball uniform, pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep the lead at 6-0.


Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Seminoles had scored zero runs and had just six hits in 17 innings. And only one baserunner had reached third off Alabama starter Justin Kamplain (eight innings, five hits, four walks, three strikeouts).


But Nogowski led off with a single to center to chase Kamplain. Alabama reliever Jon Keller then came on and walked one batter and hit two more as the Seminoles scored their first run of the weekend on a John Sansone hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded.


Senior Justin Gonzalez then worked an eight-pitch walk off Alabama closer Thomas Burrows for another run and senior Ladson Montgomery walked on four pitches to make the score 6-3 with still nobody out.


"All year we've played for the big inning," Gonzalez said. "Being in the ninth inning everybody thought we were done. Everybody stuck a fork in us and we scratched across five runs. Like (Martin) said, nobody had their head down. At that moment we had nothing to lose. That's the attitude we took. And we were close, just not close enough."


Burrows rebounded to strike out Brett Knief and get Casey Smit to pop up, but D.J. Stewart lined a two-out, two-run single to center to make the score 6-5.


Martin then went to pinch-hitter Gage West with the season on the line because he had pulled Nogowski earlier in the inning for a pinch-runner. West hit a fly ball to left center that was caught. And the Seminoles' season ended in an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2007.


"I've been a part of this program for five years," said an emotional Gonzalez afterwards. "And I wanted to leave behind a legacy for my teammates, for the program, for the fans. And unfortunately we weren't able to do what we set out to do at the beginning of the season.


"I just want to let everybody know that every time I stepped out on that field, whether it was practice or a game, I gave 110 percent. Every single time. And I know every single guy in that clubhouse did the same."


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