FSU baseball blasts Jacksonville for fourth consecutive win

FSU baseball (4-0) continued its offensive onslaught from the weekend with an 11-2 pounding of the Jacksonville Dolphins Tuesday evening.

The Dolphins have played the Noles tough the last couple of years, and it looked like Tuesday’s game would be no different when they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a home run. Freshman Ben Barrett went two innings, allowing two earned runs, one hit, one walk, and one strikeout.

He threw 28 pitches, with 17 going for strikes. The lone hit was the home run after hitting a batter. However, the FSU offense responded quickly in the top of the third with five runs. DeAmez Ross and Cam Smith led off the inning with back-to-back singles before James Tibbs cleared the bases with a double. Jordan Carrion singled to score Tibbs, and Jordan Williams hit a two-run home run to make it 5-2.

The Noles would score three runs in the top of the fourth and three more in the top of the eighth. FSU pitchers stifled Jacksonville at the plate, only allowing three hits but walking five and striking out 12.

FSU pounded 15 hits (five doubles and two home runs) and walked twice. They did strike out 12 times, which is way too much for my liking against a pitching staff like Jacksonville. FSU pitchers have to stop issuing so many walks, but overall, the bullpen was solid.

Brennen Oxford went a career-high three innings with six strikeouts and one walk. He threw 45 pitches, with 25 for strikes. David Barrett threw one inning, walking two and striking out two. He threw 34 pitches, with 17 of them strikes. Andrew Armstrong went 4.1 innings, allowing no hits, one walk, and five strikeouts.

Overall

FSU handled Jacksonville, which hasn’t happened often over the past few years. FSU pitchers have to throw more strikes consistently and stop walking so many batters.

Those walks will come back to haunt them against better-hitting teams like TCU this weekend. The FSU bats finally came alive after wasting key opportunities early in the game. DeAmez Ross is a terror at the top of the lineup with three more hits.

Jordan Carrion led off an inning with a double and got bunted over to third before the next two batters struck out. I know it’s early, and they have time to work on these things, but I’m just pointing out what they must improve on.

Personally, I’d put Jordan Carrion in the two-hole and move Cam Smith to the No. 5 hitting spot. Carrion provides more value there as a contact hitter with some speed, who can also bunt. Cam Smith’s power is another reason I’d put him a bit lower in the lineup, and that power showed up Tuesday night.

DeAmez Ross and Carrion at the top of the lineup would probably put FSU in a position to score a ton of runs with Jaime Ferrer, James Tibbs, and Cam Smith behind them.

It was also good to see the bullpen didn’t completely fall apart in the bottom of the ninth inning as they threw a scoreless frame, unlike a couple of times over the weekend. FSU has to clean it up defensively as they had two more errors in Tuesday’s game.

The Noles will have a step up in competition when they travel to No. 8 TCU for a three-game series beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.