TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State's Jim Voyles tossed five innings of nearly flawless relief to lead Florida State to its 16th win of the season Tuesday as the Seminoles (16-5) downed visiting UCF 6-2.
Starter Tyler Holton gave way to Voyles with the Noles trailing the Knights (12-10) 2-1 after the top of the third. Over the next five innings the junior right-hander would yield only one hit and one walk, while striking out three, to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Cal Raleigh (1-3, 2 RBI) and Dylan Busby (2-3, double) were among the primary leaders for Florida State (16-5) at the plate. They were joined by the duo of Quincy Nieporte (1-3) and Ben DeLuzio (2-4), who both contributed two RBI.
“We didn’t want Jim (Voyles) to go as long as he did, but he kept getting stronger and stronger,” said head coach Mike Martin. “It is a credit to Mike Bell (pitching coach) and the great job that he’s done developing our pitchers.”
After UCF took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Busby led off the home half of the inning with a double down the left field line. DeLuzio drove home Busby from third on a single through the left side of the infield, knotting the game at 1-1.
UCF regained the lead in the top of the third when Luke Hamblin hit a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall but it was the last lead of the night for the Knights as FSU scored the final six runs of the game, with five coming on the bottom of the third.
The Seminoles opened the third with a Henderson double into center field. Two batters later, following a walk by Taylor Walls, John Sansone knotted the score at two-all with a double to left that brought home Henderson. Raleigh extended the inning when he slapped a single into right field, scoring Walls and Sansone, providing the Seminoles with the 4-2 advantage.
After a double into left field by Busby advanced Raleigh to third, Nieporte scored the freshman catcher on a grounder. DeLuzio followed with his second RBI of the game on a single to left, scoring Busby, to cap off a five-run, five-hit inning for the Noles as they took a 6-2 lead.
FSU added a final run in the seventh on a Nieporte sacrifice fly that plated Raleigh scoring his second run of the game.
The Seminoles will complete the two-game, mid-week series with redshirt sophomore Ed Voyles (0-0, 0.00 ERA) on the mound Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
Seminole fans can always stay up-to-date with the Florida State Baseball team by following the official twitter page of the Seminoles (@FSUBaseball).
---Seminoles.com---
