The Canes survived some incredibly shaky relief pitching by Carlos Gutierrez Monday afternoon to beat rival Florida State, 7-5, eliminating the Seminoles from the College World Series.

The Canes beat the Noles 3 out of 4 times this year. But Gutierrez, who came in at the start of the 9th inning with a 7-2 lead almost gave it all away. With the winning run on base, he got a ground out to second to finally end what was almost a disaster.

It was a bad day for the Gutierrez family. Carlos' brother, David, was the starting pitcher but last only one inning. He got hit hard - figuratively and literally. He gave up four hits and one run and was hit on the shoulder by a hard line drive.

David Gute has had a good year as a long reliever and a spot starter, basically the No. 4 guy in a 3 man rotation. So it was interesting when Canes Coach Jim Morris made the decision to bypass No. 2 starter Eric Erickson and No. 3 Kiki Garcia in favor of David Gute. I disagreed with the decision but hoped for the best.

Then, when the Noles came out swing on D Gute with all those hits and a 1-0 lead, I thought it was for the best when Erickson was brought in relief. Eric should have started all along and proved it by throwing 5 innings of 1-run ball against the best-hitting team in the nation.

Morris made some other dubious decisons Monday such as starting the ice-cold Dave DiNatale at DH instead of Jason Hagerty. DiNatale has had an excellent year but his recent slump should have made the Canes switch sooner to Hags. In the middle of the game - after DiNatale had looked real bad on a strikeout - Morris finally made the switch to Hagerty, who promptly deliverd on a two-run, pinch-hit single.

Another Morris boo-boo was staying with CGute so long in the 9th. It was obvious that Carlos had lost his command of his pitches and lost his confidence as a result. Yet Morris seemed determined to do or die with Carlos. He almost died.

I would have had left set-up man Kyle Bellamy, who tossed 2 shutout innings, finish the game and I said so at the time. And once Morris made the move to bring in CGute, I would have had another option ready.

It all worked out, although I think I now have an ulcer as CGute allowed batter after batter to get on base in the 9th.

Next up for the Canes is Stanford on Wednesday night in another elimination game. Expect the Canes to start Kiki Garcia in that game. I give top-seeded Miami a very good chance at beating the unseeded Cardinal..

If they do, the Canes would then have to beat Georgia two straight to get to the best-of-three final. That's possible, too, but only if the Canes hit the ball and play from the front. They would have to avoid Georgia's killer closer, Josh Fields, which they failed to do on Saturday.