No. 14 Florida State baseball needed a spark Sunday, and it came when coach Link Jarrett was ejected.
Fueled by the dugout reaction after Jarrett was tossed in the fifth inning, the Seminoles rallied past Pittsburgh (28-18, 10-14 ACC) 6-4 at Dick Howser Stadium in front of 4,412 fans to complete their sixth sweep of the season and third in the conference. Florida State improved to 32-14 overall and 14-9 in league play.
The Seminoles looked sluggish early, particularly on defense, and Pittsburgh capitalized by jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the bottom fourth. Florida State struggled to find momentum before scratching across single runs in back-to-back innings to begin trimming the deficit.
The turning point came at the end of the fifth, when Jarrett was ejected after arguing a controversial interference call on a Pittsburgh double play. The ejection ignited Florida State in the sixth inning.
Carter McCulley led off the frame with a solo homer to center, part of a 3-for-3 day at the plate. Brody DeLamielleure followed with an RBI triple, and Hunter Carnes drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single as the Seminoles seized control.
John Stuetzer accounted for two RBIs with a groundout in the second inning and a single in the fourth, while Eli Putnam added an RBI single that pulled Florida State within two earlier in the game.
Florida State’s pitching settled in after a rocky start. Pittsburgh was held scoreless for the final five innings after pushing across its fourth run in the fourth. Bryson Moore worked 3 1/3 innings before Payton Nanca bridged the middle frames. Chris Knier took over in the sixth and closed out the game, earning his third win of the season.
With the sweep complete, the Seminoles now have two ACC series remaining before the conference tournament. Florida State travels to Clemson for a three-game set beginning Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Link Jarrett’s ejection sparks FSU baseball’s comeback win over Pitt
Reporting by Peter Holland Jr., Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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