FSU baseball: Parker Messick dominates Duke in shutout win

FSU baseball (15-6, 5-2 ACC) shutout the Duke Blue Devils 4-0 Friday night behind a strong effort from starting pitcher Parker Messick.

It was the best start for Messick in his last few starts. He completed seven innings with a career-high 14 strikeouts and two walks while allowing four hits. He overcame a jam in the second inning when he allowed two hits and a walk.

However, it was smooth sailing after that. The FSU offense plated two runs in the bottom of the third inning on a double by Jaime Ferrer.

The other two runs came on home runs from James Tibbs and Jackson Greene in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The count was 2-1 when Tibbs hit his home run on a fastball. The count for Jackson Greene was 3-1 when he hit a fastball. What have I been preaching non-stop all year? FSU batters to attack the fastball in hitter counts!

Jonah Scolaro pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Reece Albert continues to hit the ball well, finishing 3-4 with a double. FSU totaled eight hits, two walks, 13 strikeouts, and left six runners on base. The 13 strikeouts are still a little much for my liking, but nine of them came from only three players. Logan Lacey has struck out seven of his last night at-bats but did have a double Friday night. Alex Toral continues to either strike out or hit a home run it seems. Hopefully, Lacey and Toral can get going around the same time at some point which would be huge for this FSU offense.

FSU will take on Duke at 2 p.m. Saturday with Bryce Hubbart taking the mound, and there’s no question he’ll look to best Messick’s performance. The game will air on the ACC NX channel.