OMAHA, Neb. — There are times during a College World Series trip when teams will get in good, productive — maybe even rigorous — practices during their off-days between games.
Saturday was not one of those days for the Florida State baseball team.
With his players still reeling from Friday night’s walk-off loss to No. 1 Tennessee, FSU coach Link Jarrett gave the Seminoles most of the day off.
“To go try to hit in the cage and bang around today with the position guys, we didn’t feel like that was in order,” Jarrett said.
The pitchers who were scheduled to throw as part of their typical weekly routines still got in their work. But other than a community luncheon with some local civic organizations, which Florida State attended as a team, the players were mostly on their own.
Jarrett described the lunch excursion as a “nice” outing, but he added that he knows many of the players still felt “raw and miserable” after Friday’s loss.
It didn’t help that a television in the restaurant was tuned to ESPN, and it started showing highlights from Tennessee’s comeback victory.
In a city like Omaha, which is consumed by the College World Series every June, it can be difficult to escape a disappointing outcome.
“It’s in your face here,” Jarrett said. “Everything that happens here is a life experience. And last night was clearly tough. They’re going to be OK. But shaking off what happened is not easy for any athlete. And on this stage, it’s out there for the world to see. When it goes well, that’s exciting and you remember it. And when it doesn’t go your way, you clearly have to absorb and handle those wounds. And they were tough and deep last night.”
Jarrett said Florida State’s players were free to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening however they wanted. The only real guidance he gave them was to stay off their feet as much as possible and get quality rest.
“If they want to go back to the night game, if they want to hang out and relax, then that’s what they have to manage,” he said. “Managing yourself and what you feel like you need is part of the experience of being an athlete in a situation like this. Some of the guys may want to go to the stadium and take it in. Some may not want to see that stadium again until we start firing bullets tomorrow. So everybody has to manage their time.
“This is a learning process, especially for our team, which has nobody on it that has competed in this.”
Florida State will face Virginia in an elimination game at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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