Florida State baseball was shut out for the first time this season as Florida’s pitching staff washed away the Seminoles in a 5-0 Gator win in Jacksonville.
It was a rainy and gusty night at VyStar Ballpark on Tuesday, March 24, with the poor conditions reflective of the Seminoles’ (19-5, 5-1 ACC) production in the loss. FSU recorded just three hits and struck out 16 times, while the pitching staff issued eight walks to Florida hitters, and Cole Stokes, who walked a team-high six, hit one batter.
The Seminoles have now struck out 10 or more times in 10 games this season, and have combined to strike out 34 times in two games against Florida. The Gators, who won the first meeting, 6-3 on March 10, have now won eight of the last nine season series against FSU.
FSU’s defense struggled in the second inning, which contributed to the first run of the game. A mistimed dive in left field from Chase Williams on a line drive led to a triple for Ethan Surowiec. After a one-out pop fly was dropped by Eli Putnam, the Gators opted for a one-out squeeze bunt off the bat of Cash Strayer that brought the run home for an early 1-0 lead.
It was a crucial run as both teams remained scoreless until the Gators scored four runs in the seventh inning.
Stokes hit the leadoff batter before issuing two walks in the next three batters faced to load the bases. After he walked in a run, Cade O’Leary replaced him, and he allowed back-to-back singles that drove in three runs and pushed Florida ahead 5-0.
Despite FSU getting a pair of runners on in the top of the ninth inning, a pop fly and a pair of strikeouts ended the game.
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Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU baseball racks up 16 strikeouts, falls to Florida 5-0
Reporting by Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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