Three up, three down: FSU baseball shuts out Duke in weekend opener

Tallahassee, FL - It was another career night for a Florida State pitcher, this time Parker Messick. The left-hander tossed seven scoreless striking out a career high 14, while allowing only four hits. FSU took the lead on a wild infield bounce in third from Jaime Ferrer before home run blasts from James Tibbs and Jackson Greene in the sixth. Jonah Scolaro would shut down the last two innings and FSU would take game one over the Duke Blue Devils, 4-0.

Game Thread

Box Score

Three up

Messick bedevils Duke

Parker Messick started slow through the first two innings before shutting down the Duke offense. The redshirt sophomore struck out multiple Blue Devil batters in each of the third through seventh innings. In the second, Messick allowed Duke to load the bases before Brett Roberts turned a beautiful double play throwing out the runner at home. From there, Messick wouldn’t allow a runner past first base.

Offense stays hot

FSU’s offense has found success in their young freshmen, Jaime Ferrer and James Tibbs throughout the year (both who contributed to scoring tonight). But other ‘Noles have continued to step up each game. Tonight, Reese Albert had three hits, Colton Vincent picked up a base knock, and Jackson Greene skied a bomb to left center. Another solid night for FSU bats.

Defense stops the bleeding

The second inning had all the signs of a classic Seminole slop-fest: a hit, passed ball, walk, and bunt single. Then Brett Roberts happened. With the bases loaded and no outs, Roberts backhanded a grounder and stepped on third gunning the runner out at home. The play changed the entire mood of the game. Messick settled down and the defense impressed (outside of one error in the seventh).

One down

FSU continues to hack away.

The Seminoles once again had double-digit strikeouts with 13. Alex Toral, James Tibbs, and Logan Lacey all had three a piece. An overall solid game for FSU, but still a needed area of improvement.

Up next: FSU hosts Duke for game two at 2 PM tomorrow.