The Mustachioed Purveyor of Punchouts: Florida State starter Scott Sitz gave a surprising 6.2 inning effort to get the win tonight, keeping UCLA at bay all night.

DAY FIVE IN OMAHA

Well it was a Seminole Wind which took down the Bruins in tonight’s elimination game at TD Ameritrade in downtown Omaha. We have to bid UCLA adieu as their 2012 season came to a screech after dropping a 4-1 decision to Florida State. This leaves five teams still competing for the national title.

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GAME SEVEN.

While UCLA got a little too walk-happy, Seminole junior Scott Sitz tossed a season-high 6.2 innings and struck out eight for the second time this post-season in leading the ‘Noles to a 4-1 win over the Bruins. Five UCLA pitchers combined to issue eight walks on the night, six of which came in the first two innings of the game, leading to a 2-0 lead FSU wouldn’t give up. In the 4th inning, the Seminoles got two more runs when Jayce Boyd laid down a surprise bunt which was mishandled by Bruin 3rd baseman Kevin Kramer, allowing Sherman Johnson and Devon Travis to score and put FSU up 4-0.

The Bruins looked like they were going to make a major move in the 6th with the bases loaded and no outs. But after an RBI single from Cody Keefer, Sitz was able to sit down Jeff Gelalich, Trevor Brown and Pat Valaika in order with swinging strikeouts. That would be the last threat of the game.

Sherman Johnson was a leadoff nightmare, going 2-for-3 with two walks tonight.

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LINESCORE:

UCLA – 000 001 000 – 1  5  2

F.S.U. – 200 200 00x – 4  9  0

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PITCHING:

WP: Scott Sitz, 4-3

LP: Zach Weiss, 4-2

Save: Robert Benincasa, 16

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TOP HITTERS

UCLA:

- Beau Amaral, 2-for-4

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Florida State:

- Sherman Johnson, 2-for-3

- Devin Travis, 2-for-3

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CONDITIONS:

Start time: 7:08pm

Temperature: 95 degrees

Sunny, winds howling in from right field at 28mph

Duration: 3:18

Attendance: 23,409

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KNEE-JERK REACTION.

In 1997 I saw a UCLA team with guys like Troy Glaus, John Heinrichs, Jim Parque and Eric Byrnes take on Miami in the first round of the CWS. Parque and two other relievers issued a mind-numbing 12 walks to Pat Burrell and the Hurricanes in a 4-hour, 45-minute 4-3 loss in 13 innings. Today felt a lot like that game. Just like Stony Brook gifted the Bruins eight walks in their 9-1 loss in round one, the Bruins gave away eight free passes to the Seminoles, a certain no-no.

And you see it happen all the time in Omaha, teams do things they haven’t done all year and it costs them. As Bruin coach John Savage said afterward, the experienced Nole bats made his team seem like newbies. Sherman Johnson, Devon Travis and James Ramsey all had two hits and scored all four runs. But to be sure, that youthful Bruin rotation will be back in-full next year and they will be a force again.

UCLA for the CWS in 2013? I wouldn’t put it past them.

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NOTES:

- The first inning of tonight’s game took 29 minutes to play. And that’s considering UCLA went 1-2-3 in their half of the inning. In the bottom of the frame the Bruins walked four guys and allow FSU to score a pair of walk-in runs.

- The first two innings of tonight’s game took 53 minutes, with UCLA going 3-up, 3-down again and FSU loading the bases for the second straight inning. Oi vey!

- Not surprisingly, Florida State leads the nation in walks, the fourth time in the last five years they’ve earned the most free passes. UCLA came in averaging just 3.06 walks per nine innings, but had just over double that in the first two innings.

- Robert Benincasa picked up his 16th save, which is second-most in a single season in the history of the Seminole program.

- Speaking of making history, tonight’s win was the 50th for the Seminoles this year, the 24th time they’ve reached the 50-win plateau.

- The Bruins still finished with a standout mark of 21-6 in games away from Jackie Robinson Stadium this year.

- Reliever David Berg finished the season with the second-most appearances on the mound in college baseball history. Texas flinger Connor Falkenbach will keep his record, which was 51 in 2005.

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PICS.

What I got in my short time in the photo wells tonight.

James Ramsey leaves a long shadow on the Seminole program, no matter how this week ends up for him.

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FSU's head honcho Mike Martin didn't agree with everything home plate umpire Darrin Sealey had to say.

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The struggles of Jeff Gelalich were a huge part of the Bruins offensive woes. The cleanup hitter went an uncharacteristic 0-for-4 with three Ks.

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Freshman pitcher David Berg(26) appeared in 50 games this season. That's a long season for a frosh, but he deserved major plaudits for having a durable arm that was ready at a moments notice each time out. Berg will figure huge into UCLA's promising future.

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How's my hair?: While the Seminoles bench is intently watching the action, All American James Ramsey appears to be checking his hair in Jenn Brown's mirror off to the side of the dugout.

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This small boy is begging this hard-edge stadium security guard to get a baseball from a UCLA player. Turns out the little punk already swindled four of them previous to this picture.

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One of the few bright spots for the Bruins was when right fielder Jeff Gelalich made up for an earlier faux pas by gunning down FSU's Seth Miller at the plate with time to spare.

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Even JB got into the act of taking a pic tonight during the game. I think she tweeted it out to her millions of followers.

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FSU hat. FSU shirt. Foul ball in hand. Painted finger nails. This kid had it all.: This FSU fan kept waving to me and wanting to have his picture taken with the ball he got during the game. Okay kid, here you go. Hope you like it. (The dude shoulda smiled though)

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Just throw me a pitch already!: Beau Amaral awaits the next Seminole arm out of the pen.

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Seminole players hop the fence and head toward the pitcher's mound after the final out was recorded.

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I'm pretty sure this is Jose Brizuela carrying off a bat boy with the greatest of ease.

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I was going to go over and take some pics of dejected UCLA players packing up their equipment, but then I saw this den of sharks trying to get that big "emotional home run shot" and decided not to snap any more.

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... besides, earlier in the 9th inning I had snapped this shot of Bruin dejection.

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On my way to the post-game interview room I got this shot of a fan?/family member? giving Chris Keck words of encouragement. Keck was the final Bruin batter for 2012. (Oh and sorry for the crappy color on this pic, the stark hallway leading from the dugout to the locker room is rather tough to shoot photos in)

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Next? We head to Wednesday night where South Carolina and Kent State will try to avoid elimination.

G’night.