Two of the college baseball’s best programs scrimmaged at Blue Wahoos Stadium in front of a packed house that included 28 professional scouts.
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Florida State and Mississippi State split a two-game fall baseball exhibition at Blue Wahoos Stadium.FSU lost the first seven-inning game 4-1 but won the second contest 5-2.The exhibition served as an unofficial debut for new Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor.
Florida State helped produce another festive and packed, sellout crowd Saturday, in the Seminoles’ return to Blue Wahoos Stadium for a fall baseball exhibition.
This time, the ending became more pleasing.
After dropping the first seven-inning contest 4-1 against Mississippi State, the Seminoles got a go-ahead, run-scoring single from Kelvyn Paulino Jr. in the sixth inning of the second game, then clutch relief from freshman Manny Lantigua to seal a split in the extended scrimmage with a 5-2 win.
The event was a non-counting rematch of these teams’ meeting four months ago in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, which the Seminoles won in a hotly-contested deciding game June 1 at Dick Howser Stadium.
Just like FSU’s first-time visit to Pensacola in a 2024 fall ball event against Auburn – the Tigers winning both contests – the capacity crowd of 5,038 filled the seats, the concessions and concourse areas at Blue Wahoos Stadium. In addition, there were 18 Major League Baseball teams represented by 28 professional scouts.
“I wanted to walk out of here (Saturday) with a good feeling,” said FSU coach Link Jarrett. “You all (media) are evaluating what we do. Major League Baseball is evaluating. It means a lot to me that we come out and play well.
“The expectation in this program is you find ways to win competitive games,” Jarrett said. “These things count whether the game goes on the record or not.
“For me, watching them perform, if you come out on top, you’ve probably out-executed what’s going on at the other side. That’s important, whether it’s in this (matchup), or a regular game, or intrasquad. It does matter.”
A combined 18 players from the FSU-Auburn fall ball exhibition were selected in the 2025 MLB draft, including four FSU players chosen by the Miami Marlins, the Blue Wahoos’ affiliate in the Double-A Southern League. The expectation is Saturday’s matchup contained another large pool of draft-eligible players.
That was evident by how well both seven-inning games were played Saturday despite a strong wind blowing off Pensacola Bay from the Gulf.
“I thought these were two good teams that went at it,” said Jarrett, whose team will play Alabama-Birmingham on Oct. 25 in Tallahassee for its second fall ball game. “I think you are starting to see bits and pieces of what makes these teams good. I was impressed with the power arms (MSU Bulldogs) have… very impressive. They are capable and physical.
“It was clearly a tricky day with wind blowing at 20 to 25 (mph). It was interesting playing in this. I thought the outfielders fought through a lot of stuff.”
The event marked the unofficial debut of new Bulldogs’ coach Brian O’Connor. He spent the previous 22 seasons at Virginia, where he lifted the Cavaliers into a national program and College World Series champion in 2015.
In February 2020, O’Connor and Virginia played at Blue Wahoos Stadium in a weekend, season-opening series against Oklahoma. The following week, the first onslaught of the coronavirus hit and the sports world shut down for months.
“When coach Jarrett called me and asked to play this game, it kind of put a smile on my face, remembering back to 2020,” O’Connor said. “We played and the whole world got shut down,
“But this (Saturday) was awesome. The support for both schools… obviously the community came out, but also the rabid fan bases of both schools is really impressive. That was a lot of fun. After a period of time, you get tired of playing against each other (in fall practice). And it’s nice to play someone in a different uniform.”
By rule, the NCAA permits teams to schedule two fall ball events, each one up to 14 innings. After the first seven innings Saturday, there was a 30-minute break. After FSU clinched the second seven-inning contest, the teams still played through the bottom of the seventh inning with FSU tacking on two more runs for the final margin.
Here’s a recap:
Mississippi State 4, Florida State 1 (Game 1)
The Bulldogs quickly broke through with a pair of second-inning runs off FSU starter Bryson Moore. Leadoff batter Reed Stallman was hit by a pitch. The next batter, Blake Bevis doubled. James Nunnallee followed with a deep shot to left that fielder John Stuetzer struggled to track in the swirling win and it became a ground rule double to score both runners.
In the fifth, MSU’s Ryan Woodson walked and stole second and later scored on a wild pitch. The Bulldogs made it 4-0 in the sixth when Gehrig Frei singled and later score on an errant throw to second on a steal attempt.
The Seminoles did not have a hit until Noah Sheffield’s fifth inning single. Sheffield, a sophomore and son of former MLB star Gary Sheffield, then singled home FSU’s lone run in the seventh. The Seminoles had the bases loaded with one out, but Bulldogs reliever Tyler Pitzer got a game-ending double play for the save.
Florida State 5, Mississippi State 2 (Game 2)
After the Bulldogs scored a first-inning run, FSU senior third baseman Eli Putman played a big role in this seven-inning contest. He scored the Seminoles’ first run after a two-out hit and Paulino’s RBI.
He then hit the only home run by either team Saturday with a shot that just cleared over the glove of left fielder Peter Mershon.
“I knew off the bat, I hit it about as well as you can hit a ball,” Putman said. “And I saw it go up and I knew I had a good chance, but I knew the wind was blowing hard, too, and when I saw that kid (Mershon) jump and the crowd exploded, I didn’t know if he caught it or if it had gone over.
“So, I just kept on running, didn’t see the ball on the ground, and I was pretty happen about it.”
The Bulldogs tied the game when Drew Wyers doubled to lead off the fifth, then Jacob Parked doubled him homer. Parker was throw out trying the stretch the play into a triple.
In the Seminoles sixth, Paulino’s two-out single scored the eventual winning run. But it got suspenseful in the seventh when MSU loaded the bases with two out, then Lantigua struck out designated hitter Jackson Owen to seal the win. FSU scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning as both teams wanted to complete all 14 innings.