Wyatt Crowell brilliant on first start, FSU takes streak from Pitt

He will not soon forget Wyatt Crowell’s first start in Florida State.

The junior left-hander threw six shutout innings, scattered three hits and four walks and posted a career-high 10 in the Seminoles’ 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. He threw 100 pitches, 59 for strikes.

Crowell (3-0) had played long relief games in 2022 and the early weeks of this season, but coach Link Jarrett opted to bring his top left-hander into the rotation for the opening weekend of the ACC game. And Crowell put on the best mound performance of his impressive career, topping a 5.2-inning outing with a win over FGCU a few weeks ago.

Crowell worked out of situations where he had runners on base in first, second, fifth and sixth. In the fourth, Crowell loaded bases with no outs, only to record a pair of strikeouts and bring a weak grounder back to the mound, which he flipped to Colton Vincent for the third out.

He lowered his ERA to 0.87. He had 23 strikeouts and seven walks on Saturday.

FSU (11-3, 2-0 ACC) provided ample running support at the end of the first. Jaime Ferrer had an RBI singles, Jordan Carrion had an RBI doubles and Cam Smith had a two-run singles to put the Seminoles 4-0 up.

Pitt coach Mike Bell, who had previously been FSU’s pitching coach, was ejected in the first inning after Carrion – who was called home on a pitch – was knocked over on the check. The call for Catcher’s Interference gave the Seminoles a considerable cushion.

Smith went 2 for 3 while Carrion went 2 for 4.

The FSU bullpen gave up a couple of runs in the seventh, both of which blamed Doug Kirkland. Jaime Arnold came into play and shot to ninth place before exiting the game with loaded bases and two outs. Andrew Armstrong got a strikeout to end the game and make his second save.

Crowell threw 5.1 shutout innings in a win over NC State last March, allowing just four hits and recording five strikeouts. He also threw five shutout innings to Clemson last April, giving up two hits and knocking out six.

FSU rehearses Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (live stream on ACC Network Extra).