College Roundup: FSU Trio Tosses No-Hitter

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Florida: won, 5-4, vs. North Florida

(2) Texas A&M: canceled vs. Northwestern State

(3) Oregon State: off

(4) Louisville: off

(5) Vanderbilt: won, 12-0, vs. Radford

(6) Miami: won, 4-2, vs. Stetson

(7) Louisiana State: postponed vs. McNeese State

(8) Texas Christian: off

(9) California: off

(10) Virginia: won, 20-7, vs. Wagner

(11) Oregon: off

(12) North Carolina: off

(13) Mississippi: won, 6-4, vs. Southeast Missouri State

(14) UCLA: off

(15) Florida State: won, 3-2, vs. Toledo

(16) Louisiana-Lafayette: off

(17) North Carolina State: won, 4-0, vs. Fairfield

(18) Arkansas: lost, 15-10, vs. Gonzaga

(19) Michigan: off

(20) Georgia Tech: off

(21) Houston: canceled vs. Prairie View A&M

(22) Oklahoma off

(23) Alabama: off

(24) Mississippi State: off

(25) East Carolina: won, 6-0, vs. George Mason

The plan was for Cole Sands to get some work in. Simple. After the Florida State freshman lefthander lasted just 34 pitches in Sunday’s loss to St. John’s, the Seminoles wanted to extend him further and give him a turn Wednesday against Toledo.

Little did they know, Sands would be part of something unusual Wednesday night—something historic.

The freshman threw just three innings, then passed the baton to sophomore righthander Cobi Johnson for two innings, who then handed the reins to junior righthander Jim Voyles for the final four. None of them allowed a hit. The three FSU pitchers combined for the ninth no-hitter in program history, the first since Chris Chavez no-hit Charleston Southern in 1998 and the first combined FSU no-no since 1968 against Wake Forest. History made.

Now, here’s the strange part: The Seminoles nearly lost the game.

Toledo actually led for the majority of the contest, scoring two runs in the fourth inning thanks to a hit batter and walk by Johnson and a throwing error by FSU shortstop Taylor Walls.

But fortunately for the home crowd, No. 15 Florida State quashed any thoughts of an upset, coming back to win, 3-2, on a bunt single by sophomore second baseman Matt Henderson in the bottom of the ninth. A game-winning, no-hitter-sealing, walk-off bunt single—that’s not the most common occurrence.

“It was a game that we played with a lot of desire and determination,” head coach Mike Martin told seminoles.com. “I also can’t say enough about the pitchers. Jim (Voyles) deserved that win because of the way he pitched the last four innings for us—it was truly a thing of beauty. He kept everything in check and when you look at the numbers he didn’t allow a baserunner.”

Voyles, the winning pitcher, struck out five in his four frames. Neither he nor Sands allowed a walk.

While that one game had a little something for everyone, there was top 25 action elsewhere in the country Wednesday, albeit limited action due to poor weather.

No. 1 Florida had somewhat of a scare late against North Florida, who scored two runs in the eighth. But the Gators held on to win, 5-4, and push their record to 14-1 on the season. Freshman righthander Jackson Kowar was solid yet again for Florida in his second career start, holding the Ospreys to two runs on four hits while striking out four in six innings. Another highly touted freshman pitcher, Vanderbilt righthander Chandler Day, also delivered in his second career start, blanking Radford for five innings and striking out six in a 12-0 win for the Commodores.

Every other active Top 25 team won with the exception of No. 18 Arkansas, who came out on the wrong end of an ugly 15-10 game against Gonzaga. The Razorbacks had a 10-6 lead in the sixth inning, but the bullpen simply couldn’t hold it, coughing up nine runs in the final three innings. Freshman lefthander Weston Rogers lasted just 1 2/3 innings in the start before giving way to 11 Arkansas pitchers out of the ‘pen. The loss comes on the heels of a 2-2 week for the Razorbacks, dropping them to 10-3 on the season.