No. 6 Florida State Takes Series With Sunday's 8-3 Win

Sunday, April 18

Cary, N.C. (USA Baseball Complex)

1:00 PM

Duke University

Florida State

Baseball Game Notes: Duke at Georgia Tech (April 2-4)

No. 6 Florida State Takes Series With Sunday's 8-3 Win

4/18/2010 4:00:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

To view a photo gallery from today's game, click here.

CARY, N.C. - Mike McGee drove in three runs and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to lead No. 6 Florida State to a series-clinching 8-3 win over Duke on Sunday afternoon at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

McGee went 2-for-5 with a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning for the Seminoles (28-9, 12-6 ACC), who trailed 3-0 until taking the lead for good with a four-run fifth inning. McGee would drive in another RBI with a ninth-inning single before taking the mound and holding Duke without a hit in the ninth to secure the win.

McGee teamed up with fellow reliever Geoff Parker to hold the Blue Devils (21-16, 6-12 ACC) hitless after the fifth inning. Parker retired the first seven hitters he faced in relief of starter John Gast (5-2), who earned the win after scattering five hits and three runs - two earned - over five complete innings.

The Blue Devil offense went to work early and gave freshman starter Chase Bebout (4-1) a 3-0 lead by the end of the third inning before the Seminole bullpen stymied the Duke bats. Bebout, in his second straight weekend start after beating No. 11 Clemson in his weekend debut, shut out the Seminoles through his first four innings, giving up just one hit during that span. Florida State got to him in the fifth, however, and scored four runs to take the lead for good.

Duke sophomore Brian Litwin, who drove in the go-ahead run in Saturday's 10-6 win, added an RBI single for Duke's lone run-scoring hit. Gast, Parker and McGee surrendered just five hits, but still allowed freshman Marcus Stroman to extend his hitting streak to a career-best eight games.

Bebout was efficient through his first two frames, retiring the side in order in both innings while striking out three. He gave up his first hit in the top of the third to Sherman Johnson, but catcher Ryan McCurdy caught Johnson trying to steal second in that same inning. McCurdy, who had never caught prior to this season, is holding opponents to a 69.6 success rate when stealing this season.

Duke's offense, meanwhile, spotted Bebout a 3-0 lead by the end of the third inning. Stroman tripled to right field in the second inning and then came in on an RBI groundout from Litwin for Duke's first run. The Blue Devils then loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third and came away with a pair of runs, one of those due in part to a dropped fly ball with two outs McGee in left field.

Bebout tossed another scoreless frame in the fourth, but saw his 3-0 lead evaporate in the top of the fifth when the Seminoles took the lead with a four-run inning. He nearly got out of the inning with a slim lead still intact, but McGee made up for his third-inning error with a two-out, two-run double off the right-center field wall that put Florida State on top.

Gast shut out Duke in his final two innings before Parker entered the game and kept the streak up for the next three innings. Already leading 4-3, the Seminole offense backed Parker with another run in the top of the seventh. A leadoff walk from Duke reliever Ben Grisz came back to hurt the Blue Devils as Stephen Cardullo increased the Florida State lead to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly.

The Seminoles mounted a two-out rally in the top of the eighth to increase the lead to 7-3. Three straight two-out hits, including back-to-back doubles from Johnson and Devon Travis, made up the rally that increased Florida State's lead to 7-3. Travis' double to right-center field drove in both runs.

McGee would add one last run with an RBI single in the top of the ninth before recording the last three outs of the game on the mound. McGee worked through early control issues and retired the last three Blue Devils he faced after walking Stroman and Litwin to open the inning.

Up next for Duke is a midweek road trip to Liberty this Tuesday, April 20. Duke will then resume conference play with a three-game set against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., this weekend, April 23-25.

-d-u-k-e-