In the battle between David and Goliath at Dick Howser Stadium this weekend, Round One Friday night was a decisive victory for Goliath.
The Florida State baseball team, in need of a big weekend or it will see its season effectively come to an end, was no match for No. 1 Wake Forest in the series opener.
The Demon Deacons (41-7, 19-5 in ACC) took an early lead in the second inning and coasted from there to a comfortable 10-0 run-rule win over the Seminoles (19-29, 6-19) in eight innings.
It's the second time that FSU has been shut out this season, managing just four hits against the Demon Deacons in the loss.
Wake Forest starting pitcher Rhett Lowder began the day with a flawless 10-0 record and a 1.67 earned run average. He's likely to repeat as ACC Pitcher of the Year in a few weeks' time and looked the part Friday night, throwing seven shutout innings with six strikeouts and just four hits allowed.
"Lowder was exceptional. He had multiple fastballs in play, it sounded like, very good command of the slider, changeup. Anything in any count..." FSU head coach Link Jarrett said. "He was just in command of the ballgame...It was a difficult night, but it started on the mound. He did a really nice job for them."
FSU had a few chances early on against Lowder. The Seminoles led off both the first and second innings with singles and put a runner in scoring position with one out in each of the innings.
However, each time, the Seminoles stranded the runner and wasted the prime scoring chances.
After the relatively strong start, FSU managed just two hits over its final six innings at the plate, with 20 of the final 22 FSU batters in the game retired.
The Demon Deacons, on the other hand, plated their 10 runs on 14 hits, seven of which were extra-base hits (four doubles, a triple and two home runs). Wake plated four runs in the eighth inning against FSU pitchers Brandon Walker and Ryan Denison to make the 10-run run rule go into effect.
Oxford performs well against former team
FSU starter Jackson Baumeister wasn't to string together a third consecutive strong start Friday night.
After allowing three total runs over 13 innings vs. Notre Dame and Mercer, he couldn't get through the fourth inning vs. the Demon Deacons, who tagged him for five runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings. Most of that damage came on a three-run homer in the fourth inning by Wake Forest designated hitter Danny Corona.
"J-Baum unfortunately really didn't have his secondary pitch in play at all. He could never find his curveball. You could see it in warmups, he didn't quite have a feel for that, couldn't get it down..." Jarrett said. "I thought he did throw some good fastballs, but against this crowd (Wake), a fastball alone isn't enough."
While Baumeister wasn't on his "A" game, FSU reliever Brennen Oxford may have been. The Wake Forest transfer facing his former team delivered one of his best relief appearances of the season.
He inherited runners on the corners with one out in the fourth inning and escaped with no further damage and then worked a perfect fifth inning with two strikeouts. He allowed a solo homer to Brock Wilken in the sixth, but still tied his season high with 2.2 innings pitched and just one run allowed on one hit with three strikeouts.
"I thought he pitched great. I thought there was a spurt where his stuff was better than it had been all year, to be honest," Jarrett said of Oxford. "That says a lot about him because it's difficult to walk out there and have to deal with that circumstance and I thought he handled it just fine."
Up Next
FSU and Wake Forest are set for Game 2 of the weekend series Saturday at noon on ACC Network Extra.
