No. 10 Florida State Edges Duke 2-1

Friday, April 22

Tallahassee, Fla.

6:00 PM

Duke University

Florida State

No. 10 Florida State Edges Duke 2-1

4/22/2011 9:09:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sean Gilmartin struck out a career-high 13 batters and scattered three hits over eight innings to help No. 10 Florida State edge Duke 2-1 in the series opener on Friday evening at Dick Howser Stadium.

Gilmartin (7-1) did not walk a batter and racked up nine of his strikeouts after the fourth inning. He outdueled the Blue Devil duo of starter Dennis O'Grady and reliever Chase Bebout, who combined to hold the Seminoles to seven hits while striking out nine.

O'Grady (4-3) logged his second straight quality start, but suffered the hard-luck loss after allowing two runs over his 5.2 innings. In his 20th consecutive weekend start, the right-handed senior struck out five while scattering seven hits to hold his second straight top-10 opponent to two runs over more than five frames. Bebout then took over and allowed just one runner to reach base over 2.1 hitless innings.

Florida State (29-10, 12-7 ACC) got a solo home run from shortstop Justin Gonzalez and a two-out RBI single from third baseman Sherman Johnson for its two runs. Johnson's two-out knock came in the fourth inning and scored outfielder Stuart Tapley from second base for the go-ahead run.

From there, O'Grady and Bebout shut out the Seminoles over the final four frames, but Gilmartin maintained the lead by holding Duke to just one run – an RBI double by freshman Aaron Cohn in the fifth – over the rest of his outing. Gilmartin, a junior left-hander, left the game after throwing 97 pitches and handed the ball to reliever Daniel Bennett, who retired the side in order in the ninth for his fifth save of the year.

Gonzalez' solo homer in the bottom of the second gave Florida State its first run of the game, and the RBI single from Johnson in the fourth put the Seminoles ahead 2-0. Despite a combined eight base runners over the first four frames, however, Florida State managed to score just two of those as O'Grady stranded runners in scoring position in each of those first four innings.

Cohn responded for Duke with a two-out RBI in the top of the fifth to trim Florida State's lead to 2-1. The two-bagger was the first of Cohn's career and banged off the wall in the right-center field gap to send in freshman shortstop Angelo LaBruna, who led off the inning with a single.

O'Grady kept Florida State in check for the rest of his outing, thanks in part to a pair of hit-robbing defensive plays by himself and second baseman Marcus Stroman. O'Grady got into a jam with two men on and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but Bebout, in only his second appearance since taking a line drive off of his wrist on March 11, took over and struck out three-hitter Mike McGee to bail the Blue Devils out of the jam.

Unfortunately for Duke, Gilmartin settled in and struck out the side in the seventh and eighth to keep the Seminoles on top 2-1. Gilmartin struck out nine batters after the fourth inning and needed only 97 pitches to get through eight frames.

Bebout, meanwhile, held Florida State hitless after taking over in the sixth. The 6-6 right-hander allowed just one base runner – a walk in the eighth – while striking out four. He could do little to make up the one-run deficit, however, as Bennett entered the game in the ninth and retired the middle of Duke's lineup in order to end the game.

Duke and Florida State will continue the series on Saturday, April 23, at 6 p.m. Duke will use right-handed sophomore Marcus Stroman (1-2, 2.54 ERA) opposite Florida State righty Hunter Scantling (2-0, 2.40 ERA).