Date Posted: 6/3/2007

Tallahassee, Fla.– In the end, the rain came too late to put the fire out. Following a 52-minute rain delay in the 8th inning, Stetson’s post-season run came to end against No. 6 national seed Florida State Sunday afternoon. The Seminoles (49-12) scored 11 runs in the seventh inning and rolled to a ­­­17-1 victory over the Hatters (42-21) at Dick Howser Stadium.

Already leading 5-0, FSU put the game well out of reach in the seventh. Reichert, Mark Hallberg, and Tony Thomas each scored twice in the 11-run inning, during which 17 Seminoles came to the plate. Dennis Guinn hit a three-run homer to make it 11-0. Brandon Recheirt doubled in two more runs for a 13-0 advantage.

Ryan Strauss (10-3) took advantage of his hefty run support. The right-hander turned in seven shutout innings, scattering six hits and walk with four strikeouts.

Stetson avoided the shutout when Shane Jordan homered to right field in the game’s first at bat after the delay. It was only his third career homer but his 337th career hit, leaving him three shy of the Stetson and Atlantic Sun Conference record. He also finished his career four runs shy of the school record.

FSU began to take control of the game in the fifth. Ohmed Danesh led off the inning with a single and Mark Gildea delivered a double off the fence in right on a hit-and-run to plate Danesh. Hallberg later singled home Brandon Reichert. A wild pitch from reliever Justin Dechert scored Tony Thomas for the third run of the inning. Dechert struck out No. 3 batter Buster Posey and coaxed a fly out to end the frame but FSU led 5-0.

The Hatters had chances early to make it a game.

Stetson was unable to take advantage of a golden opportunity to score in the third. Josh Clendenin reached on a two-base error to start the inning and went to third on Kevin Johnson’s 2-strike sacrifice bunt. Shane Jordan then bounced a ball to first base. Clendenin broke for home, FSU caught him in a rundown, and eventually tagged him out at third. Jordan, meanwhile, broke for second and was thrown out to end the inning.

Braedyn Pruitt and Justin Bass stroked back-to-back one-out singles in the fourth but Strauss was again able to keep Stetson off the scoreboard.

Strauss had not made it out of the fifth inning since an April 15 victory vs. Virginia Tech. He not only made it past the fifth but pitched out of trouble again in the sixth. Braedyn Pruitt led off with a double and Adam Tindle singled but Strauss induced an inning-ending double play to keep it a 5-0 score.

Jason Stidham put Florida State on top in the second inning with a high fly home run over the right field fence. Starter Jake Hitchcock (5-2) bounced back to strike out the next batter and retired a total of five in a row after the dinger.

Braedyn Pruitt tallied three hits for Stetson and ended his career with 292, good for 6th on the Hatters all-time list. Adam Tindle also had a hit to finish his career with 190. Chris Ingoglia and Myron Carlton, who had a pinch hit at bat and caught the final inning, also concluded their Stetson careers. Ingoglia pitched Friday and finished his four years ranked in Stetson’s top five in wins, innings, starts, and strikeouts.

Courtesy of Stetson Athletics

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