Florida State baseball clinched their third straight ACC series win with a 9-1 win at No. 8 Miami tonight. The Seminoles scored in the first inning for their fourth straight game and got another dominant start on the mound. FSU produced 10 hits and were error-free for the second straight night. On the bump, the ‘Noles only allowed five hits and two walks while striking out 12 Hurricanes. Tonight was Florida State’s fourth straight win, all coming against top 20 teams. FSU will go for their first sweep of the season tomorrow afternoon.
Three up
- After running into trouble in the first, Bryce Hubbart was dominant in Coral Gables. Hubbart had already given up a run while the bases were still loaded with one out in the first inning. He limited the damage to one with back-to-back strikeouts. Four of his next five innings were 1-2-3 innings. Hubbart was dominant with his fastball-curveball combo. The southpaw kept Hurricane hitters guessing, as half of his strikeouts were backwards K’s. The two innings he didn’t go 1-2-3, he came up with massive pitches to strand the bases loaded. He was efficient and in command of the zone, showing off the AAA34K motto all night. He posted a final line of 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 R, 101 P. His season ERA is 2.08 and he’s given up a .087 average against with runners on base. FSU’s weekend rotation has been the best in the ACC since Hubbart entered the mix.
- Matheu Nelson, as expected, has been FSU’s most important player this season. He’s also been Florida State’s spark plug with big hits in big moments. Nelson started the day off right with a first inning blast, giving the ‘Noles a quick 2-0 lead. It was the catcher’s sixth homer of the season. He also came through with two more RBI in the sixth inning, ripping a line drive into CF for his second hit of the day. With his power breaking out, Nelson is quickly becoming one of the best sluggers and players in the ACC. He’s now hitting .314 on the season and .353 with runners in scoring position.
- Florida State didn’t have a ton of hits today, but they took advantage of Miami mistakes with clutch hitting. In the first inning, Robby Martin reached on an error with two outs. Nelson followed with his bomb for two 2-out RBI. In the third inning, Martin came through with a double down the RF line to score Tyler Martin with two outs. Martin had another two-hit day as his average is up to .317. Nelson’s second multi-RBI hit came with two outs in the sixth inning. The ‘Noles also advanced runners in more than half their opportunities. When FSU gets situational hitting, they’ll continue to dominate.
- Bonus 1.0: FSU’s offensive outburst has come from putting the ball in play at a high rate. Today was a prime example of good things happening when make contact. FSU wasn’t lining shot after shot today, but they put pressure on Miami by making them make plays and they folded. The Canes made four errors in the game, including three in one inning. Meanwhile, the Seminoles are yet to make an error this weekend. Florida State struck out seven times and had just one K through the first five innings. It was FSU’s fourth straight game with more hits than strikeouts.
- Bonus 2.0: Clayton Kwiatkowski has been every bit of awesome this season. The southpaw gave the Hurricanes no chance of a comeback with shutdown seventh and eighth innings. He retired six of seven batters he faced, giving up just one hit while striking out three. So far this season, he’s allowed two hits, two walks, and no runs, while striking out 11 in 8.1 IP.
Three down
- Florida States only negatives on the day were a couple of base-running errors. In the third inning with two on and no outs, Logan Lacey grounded to third. Jackson Greene ran into a tag before Yohandy Morales fired to first for a DP. FSU could’ve stayed out of the DP if Greene had stopped running or gotten in a run down. It likely cost the Seminoles a run on Martin’s double. In the next inning, Ryan Romano was thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice from the short stop. On a grounder top the right of the short stop, it should’ve been an easy read. He likely would’ve scored later in the inning if it weren’t for the mental mistake. It didn’t cost FSU because of their dominance in the field, but in closer games the ‘Noles can’t have these small mental errors.
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