FORT WORTH, Texas – Florida State (5-0) beat No. 8 TCU (3-2) 10-1 Friday night at Lupton Stadium behind a strong performance from starting pitcher Jackson Baumeister (1-0). The sophomore – making his fourth career start and first on a Friday night – set career highs with 5.2 innings pitched and eight strikeouts, allowing just one hit. The Noles broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the sixth inning against Ryan Vanderhei (0-1) and held TCU to just two hits after the Horned Frogs scored 45 runs in its first four games.
FSU’s offense exploded over the final four innings, with three in the sixth, two in the eighth and five more to pull away in the ninth inning.
Baumeister was stellar in the best outing of his career, allowing just one hit and two walks in the contest. He left with a pair of runners on base when Wyatt Crowell entered and struck out Brayden Taylor, TCU’s three-hole hitter who was hitting .529 entering Friday night.
Crowell allowed an unearned run in 3.1 innings, striking out a TCU batter to end the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. He earned his third career save.
Vanderhei had limited FSU to one hit through five innings – a Nander De Sedas double in the third inning – before Colton Vincent led off the sixth with a double. He moved to third on a DeAmez Ross single and scored on a wild pitch. Jaime Ferrer doubled with two outs to plate Ross and pinch-hitter Treyton Rank reached on an error that allowed Ferrer to score from second.
FSU added to its lead in the eighth inning, scoring a pair of runs for a 5-0 lead. James Tibbs III and Ferrer singled, and both runners scored on a Rank single and a Jordan Carrion sacrifice fly. In the ninth, Tibbs cleared the bases with a three-run double, Ferrer tacked on a run with his first triple of the season and scored on Rank’s RBI groundout.
SCORING SUMMARY:
T6 | FSU 1, TCU 0 Vincent scored on wild pitch
T6 | FSU 2, TCU 0 Ferrer doubled, Ross scored
T6 | FSU 3, TCU 0 Rank reached on error, Ferrer scored
T8 | FSU 4, TCU 0 Rank singled, Tibbs scored
T8 | FSU 5, TCU 0 Carrion sacrifice fly, Ferrer scored
B8 | FSU 5, TCU 1 Davis grounded out, Green scored
T9 | FSU 8, TCU 1 Tibbs III doubled, Vincent, Ross and Smith scored
T9 | FSU 9, TCU 1 Ferrer tripled, Tibbs III scored
T9 | FSU 10, TCU 1 Rank grounded out, Ferrer scored
UP NEXT:
Game two of the series between the Noles and Horned Frogs is set for 3 p.m. Eastern Saturday afternoon. Freshman LHP Jamie Arnold will make his second career start after allowing three runs in 2.2 innings vs. James Madison in his debut.
OF NOTE:
For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, and keep up with the team on social media through Twitter and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram and TikTok (@NoleBaseball).