JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Eighth-ranked Florida State (23-7) evened the season series with intra-state rival and sixth-ranked Florida (23-7) on Tuesday evening with an 8-3 victory in front of a packed house of 8,306 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in the second installment of the Share A Little Sunshine Showdown.
With the win, the Seminoles snapped a five-game losing streak to the Gators, while FSU improved to 6-3 all-time against UF in Jacksonville.
“Bryant Holtmann was outstanding,” Florida State head coach Mike Martin. “He really gave us what we needed. We were fortunate early; we got some key hits, balls that were just out of the reach [of the Gator defenders] but I am just very proud of this club for getting it done.
“This is a great venue, a great crowd; it’s good for college baseball in our great state.”
Florida State out-hit Florida 13-6 on Tuesday night marking the most hits by the Seminoles on the road this year. John Sansone led the Seminole offense with a career-high four hits as the junior second baseman reached base on all five plate appearances recording three singles, a double and a walk with the bases loaded in the seventh.
The #Noles take down the Gators 8-3 in Jacksonville! pic.twitter.com/MGzjOji7Yo
— FSU Baseball (@FSU_Baseball) April 1, 2015
“John is slowing everything down; the game is not coming at him so fast, he’s seeing the ball longer,” Martin said. “He’s having the game come to him instead of doing too much.”
Josh Delph finished with two hits for the second consecutive game, while Danny De La Calle collected two hits for his team leading 10th multi-hit game of the year. A senior catcher, he drove in two and scored twice recording a solo home run in the fourth for his fifth round tripper of the year.
Making his first career start against Florida, Bryant Holtmann turned in 5.0 strong innings as he allowed just one run on five hits to move to 4-1 on the year. A senior southpaw, he struck out three and did not issue a walk in his fourth start this year. At one point in the game, Holtmann retired nine consecutive Gator hitters.
"Holtmann was the key, to pitch like he did and to turn it over to Dylan," Martin said. "He was excellent, one of his better outings as a Seminole."
Dylan Silva worked the final 4.0 innings to earn his first save of the year. The junior lefty got the Noles out of a jam in the sixth as the Gators had two on and no outs with FSU leading 5-1. Silva came on and left both runners stranded recording a pair of fly outs and a strikeout as FSU maintained its four-run cushion.
Silva retired the first nine batters he faced before issuing a walk to Harrison Bader in the ninth. He finished his outing allowing two runs on a hit as he walked one and struck out five to tie a career-high.
"Dylan finished it for us and that was so important,” Martin said. “He really picked us up tonight.”
