Duke Downs FSU, Secures Series Victory

Saturday, May 14

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

1:00 PM

Duke University

Florida State

Duke Downs FSU, Secures Series Victory

5/14/2016 4:53:00 PM | Baseball

BASE vs. FSU: Herron's Doubles BASE vs. FSU: Swart Interview BASE vs. FSU: Swart's Season-High 9 Ks BASE vs. FSU: Game 2 Audio Archive BASE vs. FSU: Pollard Interview BASE vs. FSU: Herron Interview BASE vs. FSU: Bellinger Sixth-Inning Solo Shot Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke won its seventh straight game, downing No. 6 Florida State 3-1 Saturday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to secure the Blue Devils' first series win over the Seminoles since 1994.

Duke (31-20, 12-14 ACC) scored a run in each of the first two innings to stake an early lead then added an insurance run on Justin Bellinger's fifth homer of the season.

Florida State (32-17, 14-8 ACC) scored its lone run in the top of the second. The Seminoles placed 10 runners on base, but went 1-for-14 with runners on and 0-2 with runners in scoring position.

Fresham Jimmy Herron paced the Blue Devils at the plate with a 3-for-4 outing, including two doubles. Herron also contributed a run and an RBI.

Graduate student Trent Swart (3-2) pitched six innings in the win, allowing one run on six hits. Swart struck out a season-high nine batters and walked just one, fanning the side in the fourth.

“He featured all three pitches for strikes,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “He threw his change up and his breaking ball for strikes and that caused his fastball to play up. He just competed his butt off out there. Really proud of him.”

Herron contributed a double in each of the first two frames to help Duke to an early lead. The Blue Devil center fielder cracked a leadoff double against the Blue Monster in the first and eventually crossed home on a wild pitch for the game's opening run.

“We were fortunate that we didn't let them get off the field unscathed in the first,” Pollard said. “[Florida State] had the ball that squirted away and Jimmy was able to get home on that. That's big because they were a pitch away from getting off the field right there with no damage.”

Florida State scored its only run in the top of the second, tying the game 1-1. Dylan Busby was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a Matt Henderson single and scored on Ben DeLuzio's bunt.

After Max Miller coaxed a two-out, second-inning walk, Herron snuck an RBI double inside the right field line to give Duke a 2-1 lead.

Swart did not allow the Seminoles to come any closer, effectively preserving the advantage.

“I had all my pitches pretty much the whole day,” Swart said. “My curve ball felt the best it's felt all year. I was able to spot up and even when I missed, I felt I was missing down. They're a really good hitting team, but I had my best stuff today.”

Facing a 2-2 count to start the sixth, Bellinger blasted his fifth homer of the season into the right field seats, extending the margin to 3-1.

“Justin coming up and running one out of here, it felt like a different ballgame when it was 3-1,” Pollard added.

Freshman Al Pesto pitched a clean top of the seventh before giving way to sophomore Mitch Stallings. Stallings tossed the final two innings, allowing two singles, one in each frame.

“Can't say enough about the job by Al Pesto in the seventh,” Pollard said. “What a great, clean inning when we really needed it. Then Mitch [Stallings] came in and had to grind a little more today, but really made some pitches when he had to.”

Duke and Florida State face off in the series finale at 1p.m., Sunday, May 15 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

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