No. 1 Florida State Defeats Duke, 8-5, On Sunday

Sunday, April 1

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Florida State

Duke Ends Season With 14-5 Loss To Miami

No. 1 Florida State Defeats Duke, 8-5, On Sunday

4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Florida State second baseman Tony Thomas Jr. hit a pair of home runs, his fourth and fifth of the weekend series, to lead the top-ranked Seminoles to an 8-5 win over Duke on Sunday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils fall to 20-11 overall and 2-10 in the ACC while the Seminoles improve to 29-2 and 8-1, respectively.

Florida State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. After Thomas reached on an infield single and stole second, shortstop Matt Hallberg sent an 0-1 offering over the center field wall for a two-run homer.

The Seminoles scored two more runs in the top of the second to go ahead 4-0. Following a one-out walk to first baseman Brandon Reichert, Thomas turned on a 1-2 pitch and sent a two-run shot to left for his fourth home run of the series.

Duke would make it a one-run ballgame with a three-run second inning. Third baseman Brett Bartles drew a one-out walk to start the frame before moving to second on a single through the right side by catcher Matt Williams. After designated hitter Jonathan Nicolla drew a walk to load the bases, shortstop Gabriel Saade lined a two-run double to center, scoring Bartles and Williams. Second baseman Ryan McCurdy followed with an RBI-single to center to score Nicolla.

Florida State added a pair of runs on RBI-singles from catcher Buster Posey and left fielder Dennis Guinn in the top of the fourth to take a 6-3 lead.

The Blue Devils made it a two-run ballgame at 6-4 with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Bartles doubled over D'Vontrey Richardson's head in center to begin the inning. Williams followed with an RBI-single to center to score Bartles.

Reichert singled to left field to start the top of the eighth before Thomas blasted a 1-0 offering to straightaway center for his second home run of the day, giving the Seminoles an 8-4 advantage.

Duke added a run in the bottom half of the frame to cut Florida State's lead to 8-5. After right fielder Jimmy Gallagher sent a leadoff double down the right field line, he advanced to third on a fly out to center by first baseman Nate Freiman. Bartles then lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score Gallagher.

Florida State starter Ryan Strauss improved to 7-0 on the season, holding the Blue Devils to four runs on eight hits in six innings of work. Brian Chambers came in and closed out the game in the ninth for his first save of the year.

Duke starter Andrew Wolcott fell to 3-2 on the year after giving up six runs on 11 hits in 3.1 innings pitched. Freshman Michael Ness had a solid relief outing for the Blue Devils, holding the Seminoles to two runs on two hits in 4.2 innings of work. He also registered three strikeouts without allowing a walk in the game and freshman Michael Seander added a scoreless ninth for Duke.

Williams led the Blue Devils at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. McCurdy went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Saade finished 1-for-4 with a two-run double and Bartles was 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.

The Blue Devils will travel to Davidson on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game before heading up to Charlottesville, Va., to take on the fifth-ranked Cavaliers next weekend.

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