The first game of Florida State baseball's 2025 season was won by the pitching staff Friday night.

While the pitching was again impressive on Saturday, the second game of the season on Saturday was won by the offense.

After the FSU lineup had just four hits in the team's first game of the season, the No. 9 Seminoles (2-0) exploded for 10 hits, eight extra-base hits and four home runs in a 9-2 win over James Madison (0-2) Saturday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.

"There's no replacing the home run. There's not," FSU head coach Link Jarrett said. "In this day and age of stuff on the mound, it's hard to string a ton of hits together. Being able to drive ball and hit home runs does matter. We saw it today."

That offensive outburst started from the very first at-bat of the game for the Seminoles. Gage Harrelson led off the FSU first with a solo homer to right field, his first home run as a Seminole.

Max Williams extended that lead to 3-0 in the third inning with his first homer of the season, a no-doubter to right field.

Second baseman Drew Faurot lifted his second homer in as many days into the visitor's bullpen the very next inning to make it 5-0 FSU. Through two games early this season, Faurot has two homers, three extra-base hits, four hits and six runs batted in.

Shortstop Alex Lodise closed out the power display in the sixth inning with a two-run shot to left field. After Lodise was 0 for 5 with four strikeouts Friday night, he was 3 for 5 Saturday with a homer, a double, two runs and two RBI.

Freshman catcher Hunter Carns and junior-college transfer infielder Carter McCulley each had doubles in their first career starts at FSU Saturday. Carns reached base three times, also walking twice.

Once again, FSU's strikeout numbers at the plate (10) were well ahead of their walks (5) in Saturday's game. But when the team is slugging at the rate it was Saturday, Link Jarrett is more liable to take that trade-off.

Never much of a starter in three seasons at USF, redshirt junior transfer Joey Volini earned a spot in FSU's weekend rotation with an incredibly consistent offseason.

While he had made just three career starts and had never thrown more than four innings, Volini looked like a natural starting pitcher in his FSU debut. He threw a career-high 4.2 innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

"I'm going to be honest, the first two innings, I pretty much blacked out..." Volini admitted after the game. "I was definitely anxious for sure. I just kept telling myself, 'I'm prepared, I've been preparing for this for a long time.' It felt good, just commanded the zone."

After allowing a walk in the first inning and a bunt single in the second, he set down 10 consecutive batters before allowing a two-out single and then a fielding error ended his outing one out shy of five full innings. That error also led to FSU's first run allowed of the season, although unearned, after 13.2 scoreless innings to start the 2025 season.

VCU transfer Maison Martinez got out of the fifth thanks to a caught stealing by Carns and threw 1.1 innings of shutout work with two strikeouts in his FSU debut.

Jacksonville transfer Peyton Prescott followed Martinez and retired the first six batters he faced, three of them by strikeout, before allowing the bases to be loaded with one out in the ninth inning.

Junior-college transfer righty Chris Knier came into the jam and walked the first batter he faced to bring in a run, but then induced a game-ending double play to finish off the win for the Seminoles.

That walk brought home the first earned run FSU allowed this season after 17.2 innings without one to start the 2025 season.

With 13 strikeouts and three walks as a staff Saturday, FSU's pitching staff has 29 strikeouts and four walks allowed through two games this season.

FSU is set to go for the sweep of the Dukes Sunday at noon. However, a somewhat dicey weather forecast in Tallahassee casts a bit of doubt on that final game of the series.

We'll have updates on the website about the status of Sunday's series finale.