The Florida State Seminoles baseball team enters Tuesday’s game after sweeping the Wake Forest Demon Deacons over the weekend. Unfortunately for Bethune-Cookman, the Wildcats’ FSU buzzsaw isn’t slowing down. The Seminoles offense scored seven runs in the first two innings and the staff combined for a no-hitter in a 12-1 victory.
Cooper Whited started for the Seminoles and pitched early. He sat Bethune out on a 1-2-3 to start the first, with the FSU bat swooping to the bottom of the frame. After Brayden Dowd’s single to open the bottom of the first inning, Eli Putman was hit by a pitch. Myles Bailey’s legend continued as he scored twice in right field to make it 1-0. Kelvyn Paulino Jr then loaded the bases and Noah Sheffield put Putnam’s fielder’s choice at second. John Stuetzer had the second hit of the inning before Nathan Cmeyla struck out to end the inning. A lineout led to a double play to end the inning, but not before Florida State scored its third run.
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White eased into the second inning with two strikeouts and his second 1-2-3 run of the game. The Seminoles bats kept the heat going in the half of the inning, with Will Bavaro leading off the game with a single. Carl Fisher flew out, and Dodd and Putnam had consecutive singles to make the score 4-0. Bailey popped up, Paulino hit the bases again, and the Seminoles extended their lead to 7-0. With the bases loaded, Sheffield hit a routine grounder that was kicked to the outfield. The ball ended up in no man’s land and all three contestants scored.
Neither team scored in the third inning, and White ran into trouble at the start of the fourth. After pitching so well in his first three games, the youngster lost control. White struck out the first batter and walked the next. He settled for his sixth strikeout and then loaded the bases with another HBP. FSU turned to Brodie Purcell to try to save the buzzer, but he hit the first batter he faced, pushing the Wildcats’ first run past home plate. Purcell picked up the next two outs to end the top of the fourth inning. Whited Line: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HBP.
After a quiet fifth inning for both teams, the Seminoles’ offense picked up in a big way in the sixth. Quemera started with a single and then Bavaro walked. Fisher moved the runners on a sacrifice bunt and scored Kimela on a wild pitch. Next, Dodd drove in the ninth after a grounder by the first baseman. Putnam was hit again, then Bailey hit the ball over the right-field fence to extend the lead to 12-1. Cole Stokes went hitless in his final two innings out of the bullpen.
The staff pitched a total of 7 innings, allowing zero hits and one run. There were three hits, three hits by pitches, and nine strikeouts.
Florida State will host North Carolina State in a weekend series starting this Friday.
