Scantling, Seminoles take game two 6-3 over BC

Top-ranked Florida State (29-6, 16-1 ACC) scored five of its six runs in the first three innings en route to a 6-3 victory over Boston College (13-22, 4-13 ACC) Saturday afternoon on Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Shea Field.

With the win, the Seminoles registered their sixth ACC victory of the season and fourth on the road as FSU improved to 10-1 away from Tallahassee in league play this year. Florida State also ran its win streak over Boston College to eight in a row while it marked the Seminoles' sixth series victory over the Eagles in seven regular season meetings.

"It was like I was telling the guys after the game, it is just a very difficult thing to do," said head coach Mike Martin on FSU winning on the road. "They are to be commended for playing the kind of baseball that they have played on the road this year."

Jayce Boyd led the offensive attack for the Seminoles on Saturday posting his sixth three-hit game of the season as the junior first baseman finished the afternoon 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI.

Sherman Johnson and Devon Travis each recorded two hits, while Jose Brizuela, Seth Miller, Justin Gonzalez and Josh Delph all had a hit apiece as the Seminoles out hit the Eagles 11-7 in the game two victory.

"It was a good day for them no doubt about it," said Martin on the performance of Johnson, Travis and Boyd. "They had some very good at-bats. It was a very good win for our baseball team."

Johnson reached base on four of his five plate appearances recording a pair of doubles and two walks. Travis went 2-for-5 with two singles, a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base.

"It was very important that we set the tone early," said Martin. "We did that this afternoon and we got some key pitching out of Hunter Scantling and Gage Smith."

Hunter Scantling worked 4.1 innings in relief to improve to 4-0 on the year. The Jacksonville, Fla., native allowed a run on four hits as he struck out three and did not issue a walk.

Robert Benincasa worked a perfect ninth inning to pick-up his ACC leading 10th save of the season. The junior right hander out of Tampa, Fla., registered three consecutive fly outs to preserve the victory.

The Seminoles wasted very little time cracking the scoreboard in game two as Boyd ripped a two-run double to center plating Johnson and Travis to give FSU an early 2-0 lead. Johnson led off the game with a walk and Travis followed with a single up the middle.

FSU added to its lead with two more runs in the second. Gonzalez drew a walk, moved into scoring position after swiping second and scored a batter later on an RBI single up the middle by Delph. Delph would come around to score on a two-out base hit back up the middle by Travis to give the Seminoles a 4-0 advantage.

Back-to-back two-out hits off Hunter Gordon (1-4) in the third gave Florida State a 5-0 lead. Brizuela reached on a double off the diving glove of Eagle third baseman Travis Ferrick and scored a batter later on an RBI base hit to right by Miller.

Boston College cut the Seminole lead to 5-2 with two runs in the third as four straight Eagles reached off FSU starter Mike Compton. After retiring the first seven batters that he faced, Compton seemed to lose his rhythm as Marc Perdios recorded the first BC hit of the afternoon with a single to left. After two straight walks loaded the bases, Blake Butera dropped a bloop single to short left to score two.

The two-run single would end the afternoon for Compton after 2.1 innings of work.

Scantling came on and got the Seminoles out of the inning getting Tom Bourdon to line into an inning ending double play to Boyd at first.

Compton would not factor into the decision on Saturday allowing two runs on two hits as he walked two and struck out one.

"He turned around and walked a couple of guys and that just put him in a tough situation," added Martin. "When you have the bullpen that we have, you are not going to mess around."

The Seminoles added an unearned run off Gordon in the fifth to push their lead to 6-2. James Ramsey led off the inning reaching on a fielding error at second and moved to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run with Boyd at the plate as the junior first baseman singled through the right side for his second hit of the afternoon. Ramsey scored a batter later on a sacrifice bunt by Brizuela, who reached first as the throw from BC catcher Matt Pare hit the freshman left fielder in the back on his way down to first.

Scantling was cruising into the seventh retiring six straight Boston College hitters until the Eagles put together a string of three consecutive base hits. Pinch hitter Andrew Lawrence reached on a check swing single that stayed in fair territory down the third base line ending the afternoon for Scantling. Brian Busch entered with the bases loaded to face the left handed swinging Matt McGovern. The junior right fielder cut the Seminole lead to 6-3 on an RBI infield single to short. With the bases still loaded, Gage Smith entered the game and got the Seminoles out of the jam getting Butera to groundout to second for the final out of the inning.

Kyle Bird worked a perfect eighth inning recording a strikeout and two groundouts.

Florida State and Boston College will wrap-up the three game series on Sunday, April 15 at 1:00 p.m. Fans can listen to the game locally on 100.7 FM and over the internet at Seminoles.com. Live stats will be available via gametracker, while fans can receive updates on Twitter @FSU_Baseball.