⚾: Noles Shut Out No. 23 Florida, 5-0

TALLAHASSEE – Florida State (19-13) allowed just two hits and struck out 14 hitters in a 5-0 shutout victory against No. 23 Florida (21-12) Tuesday night at Dick Howser Stadium. Conner Whittaker (1-1) earned his first career win with 3.2 innings out of the bullpen.

2022 Baseball Media Center

Jonah Scolaro took to the mound for his second career start for FSU, with his previous start also coming against the Gators in 2019. In 3.1 innings pitched, the senior struck out five Florida batters, a season high.

Florida State scored all five runs in the first inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Alex Toral and Brock Mathis. Brett Roberts, James Tibbs and Logan Lacey followed with singles for a 5-0 lead.

Nick Pogue (1-2) lasted just 0.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits.

After loading the bases in the second inning, FSU tallied just one more hit – a Tibbs single in the fifth inning.

Florida’s best threat to get on the board came in the fourth inning, when Scolaro exited on a 2-2 count with one out and two runners on base. Whittaker struck out Kendrick Calilao, walked Josh Rivera to load the bases and got Mac Guscette to fly out to end the inning.

After the walk, Whittaker retired nine straight batters before a two-out single against the shift in the seventh inning. That was Florida’s last baserunner – Whittaker struck out Deric Fabian to end the seventh, Wyatt Crowell pitched a perfect eighth inning and Davis Hare closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Crowell and Hare both struck out two batters.

FSU struck out 14 batters Tuesday – a season-high five for Scolaro, a career-high five for Whittaker and two each from Crowell and Hare.

SCORING SUMMARY:

B1 | UF 0, FSU 2      Toral home run, Albert scored
B1 | UF 0, FSU 3      Mathis home run
B1 | UF 0, FSU 4      Lacey singled, Roberts scored
B1 | UF 0, FSU 5      Lacey caught stealing, Tibbs scored

UP NEXT:

Due to Easter, this weekend’s series against No. 9 Louisville will be played Thursday-Saturday at Dick Howser Stadium. Thursday’s series opener will begin at 7:00 p.m. and all three games will stream on ACC Network Extra.

OF NOTE:

• Senior Jonah Scolaro is second nationally in career pitching appearances among active players – with 108 – but Tuesday was just his second career start.
• Both of Scolaro’s starts have come against the Gators, and he has thrown 7.1 innings with four hits, seven strikeouts and no earned runs in those two games.
• Alex Toral and Brock Mathis hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, FSU’s third back-to-back home runs this season. Toral leads FSU with 9 home runs and 31 RBI, and Mathis is third on the team with 5 home runs.
• FSU’s five runs were its most scored in the first inning this year.
• James Tibbs had his eighth multi-hit game and tied a career-high with two hits.
• FSU struck out 14 Florida hitters, the 25^th time in 32 games FSU has hit double digit strikeouts. FSU ranks second in the country with 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Head coach Mike Martin Jr. improved to 3-2 against Florida. Two of those wins have been shutouts (2-0 at Florida in 2020). FSU has three shutouts in 2022.

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).