No. 10 Florida State baseball (21-6, 7-2) dropped its series finale against Duke (18-12, 5-7) on Sunday in FSU’s first game without Myles Bailey. Although the Seminoles fell, they still took the series over the Blue Devils after winning on Friday and Saturday, the third-straight weekend series win for Florida State.
From the outset, Duke outclassed FSU, scoring two runs in the second and five in the top of the fourth before the Noles recorded their first hit. Bryson Moore lacked putaway stuff, consistently
getting into two-strike counts, but was unable to finish off the Blue Devil hitters. Neither Moore nor Trey Beard had their best over the weekend, leading to Duke scoring 22 across the last two days.
Offensively, Florida State struggled without its far-and-away best player in the lineup, Bailey. Head coach Link Jarrett shuffled pieces around, sliding Brayden Dowd into the #3 spot, drawing Will Bavaro back in, and having Cal Fisher hit seventh, but it did not make a difference, as the lineup produced two extra-base hits, zero home runs and 17 strikeouts. Although FSU scored a run in the sixth inning on, a lack of early production rendered the game noncompetitive after the fourth.
In the first, the first two Duke batters reached base on infield singles, but were marooned by Moore, who worked out of the jam with a strikeout, flyout, and groundout. However, the Blue Devils broke through in the second with a two-RBI single to bring home runners on second and third. After a quiet third, Duke broke the game open with a five-run fourth on the backs of a two-out grand slam from Matthew Strand to take a 7-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Carns got on due to an error and Eli Putnam singled, the first Nole hit of the day, but a strikeout from Brody DeLamielleure and a first-pitch popout left the men on.
Duke tacked on another run in the fifth and one more in the seventh, but those were cancelled out by a run in the sixth and seventh from Florida State. The Noles threatened in the eighth with two runners in scoring position and nobody out, but only scratched one run across on a sacrifice fly. The Blue Devils pushed back out to an eight-run lead with a two-run ninth, and although Kelvyn Paulino Jr. tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the home half, Florida State mustered nothing more and lost, 11-4.
Myles Bailey Update:
Before the game, Florida State released an update on Myles Bailey:
Myles Bailey underwent successful surgery today after suffering a leg injury during Saturday’s game. He is expected to make a full recovery but will miss the remainder of the 2026 season.
The statement also came with a quote from head coach Link Jarrett:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Myles for a full, speedy recovery. I have not coached a player with a better combination of work ethic, character, and skill. His application of work allowed Myles to develop into a spectacular player both offensively and at first base. He has amazing parents, who molded him into a wonderful young man. Our medical team was fully engaged from the moment he was injured. He will recover from this injury and return to his dynamic form.”
