FSU baseball mashes its way to weekend sweep of James Madison - TheOsceola: Florida State Seminoles Football & Basketball Recruiting

Published Feb 19, 2023

FSU baseball mashes its way to weekend sweep of James Madison

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

Through the first two games of the season, the full force of Florida State baseball's power-loaded lineup hadn't been unleashed yet.

That changed Sunday in the Seminoles' series finale against James Madison.

The FSU offense exploded for 20 hits, 10 of them extra-base hits, as they scored in each of the first six innings on the way to an easy 17-10 win over JMU on Sunday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.

The Dukes scored seven runs off a few less important FSU relievers in the ninth inning to make what was a 17-3 game entering the ninth inning look far more competitive than it really was.

With the win, the Seminoles (3-0) have begun their season with a weekend sweep of JMU (0-3) for the second straight year.

"Good performance on the weekend. There were more positives than negatives," FSU head coach Link Jarrett said after the win. "There are clearly some things that we need to continue to grow through and clean up. I hope that we will. It's hard to beat somebody three games."

The blowout win was a balanced affair for the Seminoles with all nine members of the starting lineup recording at least one hit and eight hitters recording at least one run batted in.

The Seminoles had more hits (20) and extra-base hits (10) in Sunday's series finale than they had in the first two games of the weekend combined (18 hits, six extra-base hits). It's the most hits FSU has had in a single game since 2019.

FSU shortstop Jordan Carrion and first baseman James Tibbs III carried the offensive load for the Seminoles. Tibbs was 4 for 4 while Carrion was 3 for 3 and each was just one hit shy of hitting for the cycle (Carrion didn't have the home run and Tibbs lacked the double).

In three games this weekend, Carrion had seven hits, four extra-base hits and seven RBI.

"It was good to see Tibbs get going a little bit. He's very talented, we can tell that and you saw it a little bit on display..." Jarrett said. "Carrion, ball down the left-field line, ball into right, he sprayed the thing around all weekend and did a nice job."

Two more true freshmen also notched their first career home runs in Sunday's series finale. Third baseman Cam Smith delivered his first career home run in the third inning of the win, giving the Seminoles the lead for good with a rocket to right field. Titan Kamaka came into the game in the eighth inning and smashed a two-run home run to left-center field in his first career at-bat.

Bullpen picks up the slack

For at least few innings, freshman pitcher Jamie Arnold was excelling in the first start of his FSU career Sunday. The Tampa native faced the minimum through his first two innings, using a double play to erase the lone baserunner he allowed on a hit-by-pitch.

The third inning, though, proved inescapable for the freshman lefty. He allowed hard-hit doubles to the first two batters he faced that inning and couldn't manage to get out of the inning, allowing three runs on three hits over 2.2 innings of work.

"Jamie Arnold, first start, we all know what that is like to roll out there for your first appearance," Jarrett said. "Jamie is going to be good."

This effective inning at the plate for the Dukes allowed them to erase FSU's early 3-0 lead it has amassed through two innings at the plate. However, FSU's bullpen was more than up to the task the rest of the way.

Doug Kirkland, making his first appearance in nearly two full years after undergoing Tommy John surgery, got out of the third inning and then threw two more scoreless frames for the Seminoles.

Andrew Armstrong relieved Kirkland and got through two scoreless innings of his own. From there, FSU turned to freshman Ryan Denison for the eighth inning.

This trio of relievers threw 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

"I was very pleased with that. We've seen spurts of it in our scrimmages. They're going to be critical in this," Jarrett said.

Then, JMU pounced for seven runs in the ninth inning off a few of FSU relievers in Brett Barfield and Brandon Walker not expected to have real roles this season.

Up Next

After the flawless opening weekend, FSU hits the road for its first game away from Howser this season this midweek. The Seminoles play at Jacksonville on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Then, they'll have their first real test of the season next weekend in a three-game series at No. 15 TCU.