TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Jackson Baumeister allowed a pair of runs in the first inning, but none over the next six as Florida State beat Mercer, 4-2, Friday evening in front of 3,873 fans at Dick Howser Stadium. Baumeister’s 7.0 innings pitched matched a career high and he evened his record to 4-4 on the season.
Titan Kamaka had two RBI – a go-ahead home run and a double in the fourth inning – and Treyton Rank had three hits, a run, an RBI and a stolen base.
Mercer took the early lead with a pair of runs in the opening frame before Baumeister settled in. The Jacksonville right-hander allowed just three runners over his final six innings; he struck out eight hitters to win his second straight start.
FSU scored a single run in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to take the lead. Colton Vincent hit an RBI double and drew a pair of walks, while Rank tied the game with an RBI single in the third inning. Rank’s RBI came after James Tibbs stole his fourth base of the season, allowing the sophomore to score from second on Rank’s hit to center field.
Kamaka’s home run gave FSU the lead in the fourth, and his double in the fifth scored Rank to make the score 4-2.
Baumeister stranded a runner in the seventh inning, inducing a pop out on his 104th and final pitch. Andrew Armstrong got one out in the eighth before Doug Kirkland needed just four pitches to force a pop up and a strikeout, stranding a runner.
In the ninth, Mercer earned a leadoff walk – the Bears only base on balls of the game – before Kirkland earned his third save with a game-ending strikeout of a pinch-hitter.
SCORING SUMMARY:
T1 | MER 1, FSU 0 Sanford sacrifice fly, Hughes scored
T1 | MER 2, FSU 0 Austin singled, Rohrbacher scored
B2 | MER 2, FSU 1 Vincent doubled, Rank scored
B3 | MER 2, FSU 2 Rank singled, Tibbs scored
B4 | MER 2, FSU 3 Kamaka home run
B5 | MER 2, FSU 4 Kamaka doubled, Rank scored
UP NEXT:
Saturday, 3:00 PM vs. Mercer – ACCNX – 2007 Player of the Year Tony Thomas, Jr. first pitch
Sunday, 1:00 PM vs. Mercer – ACCNX – 1st pack of trading cards available
OF NOTE:
- Jackson Baumeister matched his career-high with 7.0 innings pitched. He added eight strikeouts to push his season total to 83, most on the team. Doug Kirkland earned his third save – most on the team – with 1.2 scoreless innings.
- Titan Kamaka hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning, his fourth home run of the season and first since March 25 at Virginia. He added an RBI double to tie his career-high RBI total.
- Treyton Rank was 3-for-3 with a walk, pushing his hitting streak to a career-long four games. He tied a career high with two runs and also stole a base. His three hits tied a season high.
- FSU’s first two hitters in the lineup, DeAmez Ross and Jaime Ferrer, singled in the first inning to extend their hitting streaks to seven games, tops on the team. Ferrer leads FSU with 63 hits, and Ross’s hitting streak is a career-long.
- Catcher Colton Vincent hit an RBI double in the second inning, his ninth two-bagger of the season. He has 11 extra-base hits on the season after hitting six – all doubles – in 58 games last year. He tied a career high with two walks.
- James Tibbs drew two more walks and now has 37 on the year, 21 more than the next closest Seminole. He has reached safely in 10 straight games and scored his team-high 47th He has drawn four of FSU’s six intentional walks; he is now 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.
- Andrew Armstrong made his 28th appearance after entering the weekend sixth in the country in pitching appearances.
For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, and keep up with the team on social media through Twitter and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram (@NoleBaseball).
