3 up, 3 down: Florida State shuts out Boston College in series opener

Florida State (19-6, 7-1) got back on track with a 3-0 victory against Boston College (14-10, 3-7) on Friday. It marked the first time all season that FSU had shut out their opponent.

3 up

It is a lot easier to win a ball game when your pitching staff doesn't yield a run. After recent struggles, Mike Compton bounced back today throwing five scoreless innings. The senior only allowed three hits, while picking up his first win in three weeks. Jim Voyles entered in the 6th and continued his excellence out of the bullpen with three perfect innings. He now sports a sparkling 0.35 ERA on the season! Closer Tyler Warmoth got to make an appearance, as well, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth en route to his second save. The Seminole pitching staff did a great job keeping the ball down with only four outfield putouts.

Freshman Jackson Lueck continues to swing a hot bat. Against the Eagles today, the outfielder went 3-4 with a run, raising his batting average to .444 (12-27). He was the only Seminole with more than one hit and should continue to see increased playing time.

Coming into every Florida State Baseball game, fielding is always a topic of concern. However, that was no issue today as the 'Noles had their third consecutive game without an error. In close games, one fielding miscue can make all the difference.

3 down

Although FSU (a team that is top-5 nationally in scoring) escaped with the win, they only scored one run in the first eight innings. Thankfully they had a pitching staff to back them up, but it's very rare to shut out your opponent and usually they will not win games like this. They had their fair share of opportunities, coming up to the plate nine times with runners in scoring position, but only got one hit. They also were only 3-15 with runners on base and 3-13 with two outs.

The top of the order had been rolling, as mentioned in the series preview, but they couldn't get anything going today. Taylor Walls, John Sansone and Cal Raleigh combined to go 1-12. The problem with an off night from the top of the lineup, is that it could have a trickle down effect to the bottom of the lineup.

Florida State batters seemed to be unusually impatient at the plate today, walking only twice (after drawing only one walk vs. Florida on Tuesday). This would not be a problem if they were getting good balls to hit and subsequently putting runs on the board, but that wasn't the case. FSU thrives on getting runners on base, and are one of the top teams annually in doing so.

NOTE: Tomorrow's game time has been moved to 11 AM, with the potential of a double-header. We will keep you apprised on the situation in the comment section.