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FSU defeats Duke 10-3 for the sweep

FSU starts off ACC play with sweep at Duke
FSU Sports Info
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Box Score: FSU 10, Duke 2
DURHAM, N.C. - Eighth-ranked Florida State (14-1, 3-0 ACC) registered his 10th straight win by completing the series sweep of Duke (7-11, 0-3 ACC) Sunday afternoon with a 10-2 victory inside the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
"It's all about discipline and this ball club showed great discipline today," said head coach Mike Martin. "The starter Huber was effective early and we stayed tough and got some good at-bats along about the third. We did what we needed to do today to get the win. I am very, very proud of this baseball team. It was one heck of a road trip"
The Seminoles out hit the Blue Devils 11-9 in the series finale while FSU's four-five-six-seven-eight hitters accounted for nine of the 11 hits.
Jayce Boyd, Justin Gonzalez, Jose Brizuela and Stephen McGee all had two hits a piece on Sunday afternoon, while Sherman Johnson, John Nogowski and Josh Delph each had one hit.
Boyd, Gonzalez and Brizuela also scored three runs each, while McGee and Delph led all players with two RBI. Gonzalez had a nice day at the plate as he reached base on all four plate appearances going 2-for-2 with a double, two walks and an RBI. Boyd reached base on four of his five plate appearances.
Both Brizuela and McGee went 2-for-3 in game three. McGee picked up a pair of doubles and walked once, while Brizuela recorded his first career triple and a single. Delph registered his first career hit in the fifth as he drove in two on a two-out double to left.
"Meat has spent a lot of time with those guys because we know it takes nine guys to be successful," added Martin. "We can't rely on Ramsey, Boyd, Devon and Sherman, we got to get production out of Nogowski and Gonzo and Steve McGee, who is having a very good year. Brizuela is starting to see the ball better, let's just hope that we can continue to hit well."
Peter Miller went 5.0 innings to earn the win and move to 3-0 on the year. The sophomore right hander allowed one run on six hits as he walked two and tied a career-high with five strikeouts.
Bryant Holtmann, Brandon Johnson and Mack Waugh pitched the final four innings to complete the sweep.
Florida State was the first to strike in game three on an RBI double by Gonzalez in the top of the second. Boyd drew a walk to open the inning off Duke starter Robert Huber (2-2) and came all the way around to score on Gonzalez' double down the line in left. FSU looked to add more as McGee and Seth Miller drew back-to-back walks with two outs to load the bases but Huber would get out of the jam allowing just one run as he got Johnson to groundout to first for the final out of the inning.
The lead was short lived as Duke tied the game at one on a two-out RBI single to right by Angelo LaBruna. After Miller recorded consecutive strikeouts to open the inning, Jordan Betts drew a walk and moved to second on a single to left by Andy Perez. Betts scored a batter later on LaBruna's single to right. Miller escaped further damage as he got Blue Devil catcher Mike Rosenfeld looking on strikes to end the inning.
The Seminoles wasted very little time retaking the lead on Sunday scoring four runs all on two outs in the third. Huber looked like he was on his way to a quick inning recording a pair of fly outs but Boyd began the two-out rally with a double to left. Boyd's hit started a string of five consecutive two-out hits for the Seminoles as Nogowski registered an RBI double to right center, Gonzalez reached on an infield single to the pitcher, Brizuela hit a triple down the line in right to score a run and McGee doubled off the blue monster in left to plate a run and give FSU a 5-1 advantage.
Duke got its first two batters to reach in the fourth on singles by Betts and Perez, but Miller gets LaBruna to ground into a double play and then struck out Rosenfeld for the second time in the game.
Florida State took advantage of two Duke errors in the fifth to extend its lead to 8-1. All three runs scored by the Seminoles in that inning were unearned. Boyd reached on a fielding error by the Blue Devils first baseman to open the inning and scored on a fielding error in left on a base hit by Brizuela. Delph rounded out the scoring in the inning doubling to left to plate both Gonzalez and Brizuela.
A leadoff double by Duke's Matt Berezo to start the bottom of the fifth went to no avail as Miller set down the next three Blue Devil hitters to put the finishing touches on his fourth start of the season.
Holtmann came on in relief to start the sixth and gave up a run on three hits. Duke strung together three consecutive one-out hits off Holtmann to load the bases before plating a run on an infield groundout to first off the bat of Rosenfeld. Holtmann held the Blue Devils to just one run in the inning as he got Berezo to groundout to third.
FSU extended its lead to 10-2 in the seventh courtesy of Duke's third error of the game and an RBI double by McGee. With Gonzalez and Brizuela aboard following a walk and hit by pitch, respectively, both runners successfully stole second and third, while Gonzalez scored as the throw from Rosenfeld behind the plate sailed into centerfield. A batter later McGee doubled to the blue wall in left to plate Brizuela for the 10th run of the game.
Johnson pitched a perfect eighth inning as he retired the Blue Devils in order on a strikeout, fly out and groundout. Waugh followed suit by facing the minimum in the ninth throwing just five pitches.
Florida State completes its six-game road trip on Tuesday, March 13 as the Seminoles head to Gainesville to face the top-ranked Florida Gators. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Fans can listen to the game locally on 1270 AM
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