FSU Emliminates Fullerton

June 17, 1999 / 3:18 AM EDT / AP

Chris Chavez got hot at the poker table, paid the price on Wednesday morning and then rediscovered his good fortune on the mound.

Chavez went the distance while Marshall McDougall and Matt Diaz hit consecutive home runs in the third inning as Florida State beat Cal State-Fullerton 7-2 on Wednesday night in the College World Series.

The Seminoles (55-13) advanced to play Stanford (50-13) on Thursday. The Titans (50-14) were eliminated.

Afterward, Chavez (8-5) described an adventure on Tuesday night at the casinos across the Missouri River in Iowa.

Â"I was at the table and I was doing pretty good,Â" Chavez said. Â"I guess I forgot about eating dinner. This morning when I woke up, I had a headache and I was feeling nauseous.

Â"But my mom brought me something to eat. Once I got some food in me, I took a nap and I was fine,Â" he said.

Chavez, a right-hander making his third start, usually pitches from the bullpen. He threw five innings in relief of Nick Stocks to get the victory in Florida State's series-opening defeat of Texas A&M.

Â"I'd hate to see him if he was healthy,Â" Titans coach George Horton said.

Chavez was called into the rotation after freshman right-hander Blair Varnes, the usual No. 3 starter, ruptured a knee ligament during a postgame pileup when the Seminoles beat Auburn earlier this month.

Against the Titans, Chavez improved as his pitch count increased. After allowing a run in the fifth, Chavez retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced, including the last seven. From the sixth inning on, he walked one.

Â"Chris Chavez made it difficult,Â" Horton said. Â"He's a bulldog pitcher, a great pitcher, who rose to the occasion and made it difficult for us to get anything going.Â"

To prove he wasn't slowing, Chavez struck out the side in the ninth on 10 pitches. David Bacani was caught looking on the last one.

Â"I just wanted to come out and throw strikes,Â" said Chavez, who allowed seven hits and one earned run, walked three and struck out six. Â"I wanted to make them make contact. We didn't make any errors and we got key hits from everyone.Â"

Seminoles shortstop Brett Groves said it's easy to play defense behind Chavez.

Â"You could see in the last inning how excited he gets,Â" Groves said. Â"What you guys don't see out there is how he turns around to the outfield and yells at all of us. It gets us into the game.Â"

The Seminoles went ahead in the second and didn't look back. Jeremiah Klosterman walked, went to third on Karl Jernigan's double and scored on Brett Groves' single for a 2-1 lead.

McDougall and Diaz stretched it to 4-1 in the third. McDougall hit a homer to left center and, about one minute later, Diaz hit his shot into the left field bleachers.

Â"The first one, in my opinion, was a bad pitch, a fastball up in the zone,Â" Fullerton starter Jon Smith (71) said. Â"The other was a slider down at the knees and you've just got to give credit to Diaz in that situation.Â"

The Seminoles added three runs in the fourth. Ryan Barthelemy led off with a single and scored on pinch-hitter John-Ford Griffin's double. McDougall walked and Diaz singled to load the bases.

Kevin Cash singled in Griffin and Klosterman's force play scored McDougall.

Fullerton used three pitchers after Smith allowed four runs in the first two innings.

The Titans' best threat came in the third, when they loaded the bases with one out. Chavez got Chris Beck to ground into a double play, the fifth of the series for Florida State.