Trey Beard and John Abraham combined for nine innings of two-run baseball with 13 strikeouts to carry Florida State baseball (22-7, 8-3) to a series-tying win over Virginia (24-8, 8-6), 5-2.
Beard started the game for Florida State, and while he had traffic on the bases in every inning he pitched, the lefty never let go of the rope and held UVA to only two runs across 5.0+ IP, while striking out seven. Abraham came in for Beard after the starter allowed a solo home run to begin the sixth and shut
the door. The righty punched out six across 4.0 shutout innings. He stranded two runners on base in both the eighth and ninth, preserving FSU’s 5-2 win along with the rest of the Seminole bullpen. Abraham’s 69 pitches were a career-high, and his length has given Link Jarrett one of the best bullpen arms in the sport.
On the offensive side, it was another up-and-down day for the lineup, but clearly, the Noles did enough. Hunter Carns was the story for FSU as he went 3-5, including a two-run home run in the sixth to push Florida State out in front, 5-1. Along with Carns, Noah Sheffield was the only other Seminole to record a multi-hit day, going 2-5 with a double and a run scored. There were still far too many unproductive at-bats, as FSU struck out 15 times on Friday with only three walks, but the recipe for Florida State is clear: if the arms can hold their opponent to four runs or less, there should be enough offense to scratch across enough runs.
For the second day in a row, Florida State put two men on in the top of the first as Brayden Dowd reached on an error and Hunter Carns singled, but back-to-back outs stranded the runners. In the bottom of the frame, Trey Beard answered as he marooned a runner on second with back-to-back punchouts.
After a quiet second, FSU took an early 1-0 lead thanks to some sloppy play from Virginia. Two UVA errors and a bunt single loaded the bases for the Seminoles before Eli Putnam walked, plating Brayden Dowd. However, Florida State squandered a chance to push its lead out further as Chase Williams struck out swinging.
Beard maneuvered around traffic in the bottom of the third and fourth as he worked around a lead-off single in the third to post a zero and left two runners on in the fourth by inducing a flyout to left field.
Noah Sheffield’s hot week continued in the top of the fifth as he led off the frame with a double. In the ensuing at-bat, Carns singled through the left side, putting runners on the corners, before Kelvyn Paulino Jr. brought in Sheffield on a sacrifice fly. Later in the frame, Williams singled and Stuetzer walked to load the bases for the second time in three innings for Florida State. The Noles plated their third run of the day on a dropped third strike as Carns scored from third and Cal Fisher reached first.
Leading 3-0, Beard allowed two men on base with free passes, one hit batter and one walk. After securing the second out in the inning, UVA scored its first run of the day with an RBI single. However, Beard limited the damage with an inning-ending strikeout as FSU took a 3-1 advantage into the sixth.
The Seminoles answered in the top of the sixth. Dowd began the inning with a four-pitch walk, and two at-bats later, Carns cracked his first home run of the season, a two-run bomb to dead center, as FSU doubled its lead to make it a 5-1 game.
The pendulum swung back in Virginia’s favor in the bottom of the sixth as the Cavs led off the frame with a solo homer, making it a three-run game and chasing Beard from the contest as John Abraham relieved the lefty. Although Virginia put a runner on second, Abraham struck out Eric Becker, the UVA lead-off hitter, to extinguish the threat.
Abraham retired eight straight batters spanning the sixth to the eighth, but found trouble with two gone in the eighth. The Tampa native walked two batters after striking out the first two batters of the inning on six pitches, but struck out Kyle Johnson, UVA’s pinch hitter, to punch out the side and maintain FSU’s three-run advantage.
The righty reliever came back out for the ninth with his pitch count at 50 to take on the top of Virginia’s lineup. Abraham made it interesting as two singles and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position with two outs, but the righty struck out Sam Harris, UVA’s home run leader, to lock down the 5-2 Florida State win and tie the series at one.
