No. 9 FSU Baseball stays perfect with 6-2 win at USF
Courtesy of FSU Sports Information:
TAMPA – The No. 9 Florida State baseball team remained unbeaten on the young season with a 6-2 victory at USF on Tuesday night in Tampa.
The Seminoles (4-0) took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning and made it 3-0 in the fifth. The Bulls (2-2) got their first run in the bottom of that inning before FSU added one in the seventh and two more in the ninth. USF added one in the ninth and had two on with one out, but could not get any closer.
Playing at the USF Baseball Stadium for the first time since 2016, FSU improved to 75-16 all-time against USF and 28-11 in Tampa. The Seminoles have won five in a row in the series and five consecutive on the road.
In front of a capacity crowd that featured a large contingent in Garnet and Gold, Florida State scored six runs on 11 hits and South Florida scored two runs on nine hits. Neither team committed an error.
Four players had two hits, including sophomore third baseman Cal Fisher and freshman left fielder Chase Williams, who both had two RBI. Junior center fielder Max Williams hit his second home run of the season, a solo blast to right-center in the fifth inning that proved to be the game-winning run.
On the mound, junior right-hander Evan Chrest, a Tampa native, made his first start and appearance at FSU and pitched 4.2 innings. He allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts. Sophomore righty John Abraham relieved him and earned the win, with 1.1 one-hit innings with a pair of strikeouts. Fellow second-year right-hander Peyton Prescott got the final two outs of the game and earned the save, his first as a Nole and second of his career.
Chrest used a double play to get out of the first and he stranded one in the second. Freshman catcher Hunter Carns threw out a runner trying to steal second in the third inning, a frame that ended with two Chrest punch-outs.
FSU got on the board in the top of the fourth as Chase Williams hit the season’s first triple that scored junior second baseman Drew Faurot and junior designated hitter Jaxson West. Chrest then left two on in the bottom of the frame after back-to-back two-out singles.
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Max Williams then extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth with his home run to right-center with one out. The Bulls made it 3-1 in the bottom half on an infield single with two outs. Abraham entered the game and got a strikeout to end the threat.
The Bulls loaded the bases in the sixth with one out, but Abraham struck out USF’s No. 7 hitter and got a groundout to end the inning and preserve the two-run lead.
West singled in Max Williams in the seventh with two outs to extend the advantage to 4-1, and junior righty Ben Barrett relieved Abraham and pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth.
Fisher provided some insurance in the ninth with a two-out single that scored junior shortstop Alex Lodise and junior right fielder Gage Harrelson. The Bulls scored one in the bottom of the ninth, and had two on with one out, but Prescott entered and got the final two outs to preserve the win.
The Seminoles return home for a three-game series against Penn from February 21-23 at Dick Howser Stadium. First pitch on Friday, February 21, is at 5 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday. The series finale on Sunday will now begin at 1 p.m.
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