The Florida State Seminoles are making a statement in ACC play, and they did it in emphatic fashion on Friday night. After a dramatic walk-off walk victory the day before, FSU baseball turned to the bats early and often, securing an 11-1 run-rule victory over rival Miami to clinch their third consecutive series win over the Hurricanes.
The Seminoles (38-15, 19-10 ACC) didn't wait for late-game heroics this time. They jumped on Miami (35-17, 15-14 ACC) right from the start, plating six runs over the first four innings at Dick Howser Stadium. The exclamation point came in the eighth inning when Gabe Fraser delivered an RBI single to right field with the bases loaded, ending the game early under the run rule.
While the offense set the tone, the pitching staff deserves a round of applause. Starter Trey Beard was locked in, tossing six strong innings while striking out eight and allowing just four hits. His only mistake came in the first inning when Max Galvin launched a solo home run to put Miami up briefly. But Beard settled in from there, and reliever Brodie Purcell took over in the seventh and was nearly unhittable—striking out five and allowing just one hit over two scoreless innings.
The Seminoles showed resilience early. After Galvin's home run put Miami ahead, Hunter Carns nearly answered with a two-run blast of his own, but Galvin leaped at the left-field wall to rob him. Carns wouldn't be denied for long. In the third inning, he led off with a no-doubt solo home run—his sixth of the season—to tie the game. He finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
FSU's second inning was the turning point. Fraser was hit by the first pitch he saw, and the Seminoles made Miami pay. Eli Putnam singled to move Fraser to third, and Carter McCulley brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Cal Fisher and Brayden Dowd followed with RBI singles to give FSU a 3-1 lead. Dowd was a force all night, finishing 2-for-3 with three walks.
A bases-loaded walk to John Stuetzer and a fielding error in the fourth stretched the lead further, setting the stage for Fraser's game-ending hit in the eighth. The Seminoles are rolling, and with this series win, they're proving they have the depth and firepower to make noise down the stretch.