DURHAM, N.C. — No. 12 Duke (11-2, 1-0) topped No. 14 Florida State (9-4, 0-1) 2-1 Friday evening in an ACC-opening pitcher’s duel at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. FSU starter CJ Van Eyk (1-1) allowed three hits in six innings, but Duke’s Bryce Jarvis (3-1) gave up just one hit in seven innings while dropping his earned run average to 0.67.
Van Eyk struck out six batters and consistently worked around runners on base. Jarvis retired the first 20 batters of the game for the Blue Devils.
Duke put together a pair of hits in the first inning, the second an RBI single off the bat of Michael Rothenberg with two outs. Van Eyk did not allow another hit until Wil Hoyle singled to open the seventh inning, the last batter the right-hander faced. Jonah Scolaro entered with a runner on first and got FSU out of trouble with a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to Carter Smith at first base.
Florida State did not have a baserunner until there were two outs in the seventh inning. Robby Martin reached after a wild pitch on a strikeout, Elijah Cabell followed with FSU’s lone hit to left field and Reese Albert reached on a full count wild pitch. Jarvis got out of the jam with a strikeout to Smith.
Travis Girard took over for Duke in the eighth inning and struck out five of the seven batters he faced.
Duke scored an unearned insurance run in the eighth inning after Rothenberg reached on a fielding error and scored on pinch hitter Chris Crabtree’s RBI double. The run proved vital as Tyler Martin walked in the ninth inning, moved to second and third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on Robby Martin’s groundout. Elijah Cabell struck out to end the game.
NOTEWORTHY
- Despite the loss, CJ Van Eyk allowed just three hits in 6.0 innings. Over his last two outings, Van Eyk has allowed four hits with 14 strikeouts in 12.0 innings.
- Chase Haney pitched for the 10th time this season, the most pitching appearances in the country this year. He has appeared in 105 games in his career, the ninth-most in FSU history.
- FSU struck out 10 Duke batters, the 12th time in 13 games the Noles have reached double-digit strikeouts.
- Mat Nelson went 0-for-4 at the plate, ending a streak of 24 straight games reaching base.
- UP NEXT
Game two between the Seminoles and Blue Devils is Saturday at 1:00 p.m. LHP Shane Drohan is looking for his first win for FSU, while Duke counters with RHP Cooper Stinson, who is 2-0 and has not allowed an earned run this season.Fans can watch all games this weekend on the ACC Network Extra, listen on the radio in Tallahassee on 106.1 FM or nationwide through the FSU Gameday App.
