JJ Schwarz leads Florida's rout over FSU to open Super Regional
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- JJ Schwarz has no idea what's clicking for him.
Whatever it is, Florida can only hope it continues -- against rival Florida State on Saturday and maybe at the College World Series next week.
Schwarz hit his 16th home run -- one shy of tying Florida's freshman record -- and the Gators beat Florida State 13-5 on Friday night in Game 1 of the best-of-three NCAA super regional series.
"It was just an old-fashioned switching," said FSU coach Mike Martin, whose team lost for the first time in eight games. "They beat us in every phase."
Florida (48-16) topped the error-prone Seminoles (44-20) for the eighth time in the last nine games in Gainesville and moved one victory from a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, for the CWS.
Game 2 is Saturday, with Florida State right-hander Mike Compton and Florida lefty A.J. Puk on the mound.
Schwarz, Mike Rivera and right-hander Logan Shore had a lot to do with Florida's latest win.
Schwarz had an RBI single, a solo homer and scored three times. Rivera drove in a career-high three runs. Shore (9-6) pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings. Schwarz struck out to end the sixth, but that did little to dampen his torrid postseason.
Collegiate Baseball's co-freshman of the year, Schwarz earned MVP honors in the Southeastern Conference tournament and again after last weekend's regional sweep. The catcher/designated hitter is hitting .543 (19 of 35) in the postseason, with five doubles, two homers, 12 runs and 14 RBIs.
"I wish I knew," Schwarz said. "If I knew, I'd probably do it for a long time."
The only Florida freshman to hit more home runs than Schwarz is Austin Maddox, who had 17 in 2010.
With Schwarz and his teammates scoring in five of the first seven innings, Florida led 13-0 before the Seminoles crossed home plate.
The Gators chased Florida State ace Boomer Biegalski (7-5) in the third, his shortest outing of the season. The right-hander had lasted at last five innings in each of his previous 16 starts. Florida got to him early, batting around in the first and scoring four times. The Gators added two runs in the third, another in the fifth, two more in the sixth and four in the seventh.
"One of those nights I wish I could come up with an explanation," Martin said. "Boomer is a guy there is no way we would be where we are without him. I didn't want to leave him out there to rot."
Biegalski wasn't the only problem. Florida State committed four errors, giving the Seminoles nine in 16 innings in Gainesville this year. They committed five errors in a 14-8 loss at Florida in March.
"I'll bet anyone in here $100 the sun is going to come up somewhere tomorrow," Martin said. "We're going to play baseball tomorrow, and we hope we can play better."
