Clark: The magic race continues with an unlikely victory

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Be honest. You thought it was over.

As you watched the first five rounds on Saturday, you probably said, "Oh, the Athens Regional was good, but this team does not win a game in Baton Rouge. He does not even receive success!

I will not mind if you feel that way. We have watched the FSU baseball enough over the years and this year again this team to think that the breaks might not be the same as the Seminoles on a stage like this.

Then Reese Albert arrived. The sophomore had one of the best hitters I've ever seen, fouling step by step before throwing a three-point circuit over the right bleachers to tie at 4-4 at the seventh inning.

Just like that, in a game where it seemed like the Seminoles had been dominated, where they had not been touched in the five innings, they were tied in the seventh end. And two innings later, they celebrated on the field after a 6-4 victory in front of a stunned LSU crowd.

There is no way to know how the rest of this series will unfold. LSU is LSU for a reason. The Alex Box stadium is as hectic as the one you'll find in any baseball stadium outside the major leagues in October.

But on Saturday, this team that has been scratching our heads for four months has rubbed our head and said, "Can these guys really go to Omaha? Will that happen?"

The first things first. Let's talk about this Albert at bat. It is the at-batts that turn the losses into victories. These are the critics who turn post-season disappointments into memorable moments of all time.

"He was making good shots," said Albert. "The mistakes I made are strikes to the limit, so I had to swing, and finally he gave me a shot with which I could do some damage."

Here is an overview of the pitch of the game by bat:

He committed five straight 3-2 faults of Trent Vietmeier.

After the match, I spoke to Albert about his approach. He knew – or at least assumed – that he was not being kicked over there because they did not want to risk taking a walk and throwing Drew Mendoza with loaded goals.

He was still waiting for the fastball, thinking that he would eventually turn around. He did. Hit him on the stands in the right field and on the roof of the baseball building with the strange roof.

"There were probably two balls where I thought:" Dude, I could have said it the opposite way or whatever, "Albert said when I asked him if he was discouraged while he was missing hardly the fast balls. " But it was as if every time I made a mistake, he became more nervous than me. Because I knew that he was not going to throw a brittle ball. "

Not with Mendoza looming on the bridge.

"So, the more I saw him, the more I thought I could handle him," said Albert. "The ball went over the fence, but I do not try to do that."

There were even more heroics to come, of course.

Albert hit another homerun – a lunar shot that seemed to be in the air for 20 minutes – at the beginning of the ninth inning, Tim Becker added to his legend another great goal (more on him in a moment) and JC Flowers would come out of a traffic jam to save a stop of two outings with apparently all the state of Louisiana trying to get him banging in the ninth.

But this first house run by Albert, this epic match that fans of FSU will remember for a long time if this team went to Omaha (or even if it probably did not), is what made it so magical win. It did not seem to me … normal.

I do not want to write this column as if FSU has never been successful in post-season. The Seminoles attended 22 College World Series and have won 17 of their last 21 regional tournaments. So, let 's not act as they were always short in June. This is not the truth.

But at that time, in this place, against this program, it was like another of these "Oh, it was fun, it lasted, but the journey comes to an end", the afternoon.

Then Reese Albert says, "Think again, fool!" And damaged a roof.

"It was a huge match," Flowers said. "It just shows the type of team we are, we are fighters, and he was a great Reese at-bat."

He completely returned the game. And took the air out of the box. The Seminoles go-ahead took place later, thanks to another bat that also seemed to be steeped in magic.

This comes from the guy I wrote about 1500 words last week. The guy who became a fan favorite in Athens got the biggest applause from FSU fans – aside from Martin – in pre-match introductions.

Tim Becker eliminated his first two forwards Saturday. He then ripped a single to seventh to start the three-run rally. In the eighth, he loaded the bases and an exit in front of LSU's best rescue thrower, Zach Hess. The same Zach Hess who was almost untouchable two years ago, when the Seminoles lost twice against LSU in Omaha.

Becker immediately tilted in a 0-2 hole. He then cashed three brittle balls, took two quick balls out of the box, and then lifted a flying ball deep enough to let Matheu Nelson score from third base to give the Seminole a lead.

Again, it was a match that, in my opinion, would end up being a disappointment for the Seminoles. Especially when he found himself in a 0-2 hole. But Tim Becker does not care what I think.

"He ran very well to Nelly with a big race," said Mike Martin. "Because he refused to do anything other than what he was working on."

A kid who most FSU fans (and some Warchant.com editors) had never heard of before the last weekend still showed up with a clutch RBI.

That's enough to make you think that maybe, maybe, there's actually at been a magic dust sprinkled on the 2019 Florida State Seminoles.

Or maybe the road ends here again at Baton Rouge. Beat the Tigers twice in their own stadium is a really difficult task. We all understand that.

No matter how that ends, however, this 2019 baseball team in Florida has launched a hefty charge. From the defeat of Athens to the impressive victory against a million LSU fans, this Seminoles team ensures that the last round of Mike Martin is truly memorable.

And oh yeah, they gave him 40 wins for a 40th season in a row.

"If it sounds corny, it's okay, ladies and gentlemen, because I do not care," Martin said. "We care about each other.We want to play solid baseball.People have the right to say what they mean.We care about each other.And that's what this team did they show their hearts, they showed that they're going out and fighting, no matter the circumstances.And that's what makes us proud to be a Seminole. "