James Tibbs punches Florida State’s ticket to Omaha

It took longer than expected, but Florida State is headed to Omaha.

And outfielder James Tibbs III is a massive reason why.

In Saturday’s game against Connecticut Tibbs exploded, going 5-for-6 on the day with a trio of two-run home runs, the third of which came in the top of the 12th inning to break a 8-8 tie, and inch Florida State closer to Omaha.

The Seminoles — playing as the visiting team in front of their home fans given the format of the Super Regionals — closed it out in the bottom of the inning, booking their trip to the Men’s College World Series with a 10-8 victory over the Huskies.

After singling in the first inning Tibbs left the building in the third, as the ACC Player of the Year hammered a 92-mph pitch to deep center, to tie the game at 2-2:

His next at-bat came in the fifth inning, and again Tibbs was able to get his hands around on a pitch, drilling a deep shot to right-center for his second HR of the game, again a two-run homer:

Tibbs singled in the sixth inning, and was finally punched out in the eighth as he struck out swinging. After walking in the top of the tenth, Tibbs came to the plate in the top of the 12th with the game tied at 8-8.

It did not take long for him to untie it. With the count 1-0 in his favor, Tibbs got a pitch on the inner half of the plate, and left absolutely no doubt off the bat:

As noted by the team’s social media department, the home run made Tibbs the first FSU baseball player since 2010 with a three-homer game.

Connecticut brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning with two outs, but Conner Whittaker got shortstop Paul Tammaro to strike out swinging to end the game.