FSU baseball: Early runs propel Noles past Georgia Tech in series opener

FSU baseball (19-14, 14-11 ACC) used runs in the early innings to take the series opener 9-0 against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

It was a big win for the Noles as Matheu Nelson continued his torrid offensive pace with a solo home run in the first inning to put the Noles up 1-0.

That one run would have been enough as Parker Messick, and the FSU bullpen shut the Yellow Jackets down the rest of the way.

Messick pitched six innings with five strikeouts, three hits, and three walks. Jon Scolaro and Jack Anderson pitched two scoreless innings and Ross Dunn finished them off in the ninth.

Jackson Greene hit his first home run of the year, a two-run shot that put the Noles up 3-0 after three innings. Greene helped two more runs to score in the fourth inning on a Georgia Tech throwing error.

Robby Martin put the icing on the cake with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning.

Georgia Tech’s propensity to make errors was one of the things I pointed out in the preview, and they had three errors in the game that were costly.

Matheu Nelson finished the game 2-4, Logan Lacey went 2-5, and David Hare went 3-4, and five other FSU batters had hits. The bottom of the FSU lineup was productive, which is something that’s been missing from the offense.

The lack of production from the bottom half of the lineup and not striking out so much were two keys to victory pointed out in the preview.

FSU batters only struck out five times in the game, which is something that needs to continue if they want to find success offensively.

It was a great job of getting out in front early and giving runs to a pitcher that’s usually lights out. If the Noles can continue to do that they should win or clinch this series. The second game will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.