HOUSTON -- A few minutes before the biggest game in the history of the baseball program at Florida Gulf Coast University, Dave Tollett walked out to the bullpen to make sure his starting pitcher wasn't freaking out.
"Coach, don't worry," Chris Sale said. "We're going to get this done."
Then, as promised, Sale gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings, struck out 11 batters and outdueled Stetson ace Jacob deGrom (yes, that Jacob deGrom) in the first round of the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. The 9-4 victory was the finishing flourish of Sale's 11-0 record as a junior, and it represented the first postseason win in the Division I ranks for Florida Gulf Coast.