Analyzing FSU baseball’s loss to Tony Vitello’s Tennessee in College World Series semifinals

Florida State University's run in the 2024 College World Series was stopped in the semifinals after the Tony Vitello-coached Tennessee Volunteers outplayed the Seminoles, 7-2, on Wednesday.

The Volunteers built an early 5-0 lead in the first four innings and did not look back as they secured their second CWS Finals, their first since 1951. Let's take a closer look at how FSU lost against Tennessee.

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Three reasons why FSU lost to Tennessee in the College World Series semifinals

1. FSU fell to an early 3-0 hole

FSU could have avoided disaster if they didn't allow a high-powered offense like Tennessee to run over them early in the game. Seminoles coach Link Jarrett seemed to have fed his freshman pitcher, John Abraham, to the lions and paid dearly.

Abraham, who just started three games in 24 appearances for Florida State this season, gave up three runs—two earned—in 1/3 inning before getting pulled out in favor of Brennen Oxford. The relief pitcher lasted for three 1/3 innings and allowed two runs before Joe Charles and Connor Whittaker teamed up to end the bleeding for the Seminoles.

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2. Big bats went silent

FSU had a difficult time making a big hit on Wednesday as they managed to make contact with the ball seven times as compared to 10 by Tennessee.

Cam Smith was hitless in four at-bats, James Tibbs III and Marco Dinges were 2-of-8 combined while Jaime Ferrer went 0-for-4. Only Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise inflicted damage to Tennessee by launching back-to-back home runs off starter Zander Sechrist in the seventh inning.

However, that was the only threat Florida State provided as Vitello replaced Zechrist with Kirby Connell. The relief pitcher shut the door for the Seminoles, allowing just one hit in one 2/3 innings. Nate Snead closed the game for the Volunteers as he pitched for one inning and allowed one hit.

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3. Tennessee's defense on fly balls was excellent

Kavares Tears caught a ball to rob Florida State of a possible extra base hit.

FSU could have made the game interesting early on but Tennessee's defense on fly balls was amazingly superb.

Kavares Tears robbed Dinges of a centerfield hit in the first inning. In the third, shortstop Dean Curley made a perfect throw that forced Jaxson West out at home plate. On the subsequent play, Tibbs was grounded into a double play which had the Volunteers escaping a jam without allowing a run.

The Seminoles knocked on the door in the seventh following back-to-back homers from Cantu and Lodise. The Volunteers regrouped immediately and forced two groundouts to end the threat.

Tennessee gave up a single each in the eighth and ninth inning, but they were on their feet to hold any Florida State runner out of scoring position. This preserved their victory and captured a ticket to the CWS finals against Texas A&M.