FSU throttles Miami in game one of rivalry series

March 21, 2025 Admin

Florida State baseball dominated the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday night, earning a 14-1 victory in seven innings as the Seminoles’ bats erupted and Joey Volini shut down the Miami lineup. When head coach Link Jarrett designed this team in the offseason, nights like this were what he envisioned, with a complete performance in every phase of the game after a subpar showing on Tuesday.

The Seminoles hit six home runs, tallied 14 hits and scored 14 runs, using four multi-run innings to seize control of the game and chase the Miami starter after 3 2/3 innings pitched. Jarrett tinkered with the lineup, starting Brody DeLamielleure, Carter McCulley and Hunter Carns, but the top hitters propelled the Seminoles to victory. The 1-2-3 of Gage Harrelson, Alex Lodise and Max Williams set the tone, combining for three home runs, eight hits and nine RBIs, including a 4-for-5 day with two homers for Lodise.

On the mound, Joey Volini continued his strong start to the season. The left-hander earned his first complete game of the year, pitching 7 innings with 9 strikeouts, 1 walk and 2 hits allowed, with just one earned run on a solo homer. Volini’s off-speed pitches, particularly his curveball, baffled the Hurricane batters, accounting for seven of his nine strikeouts. After a taxing game for the bullpen two days prior, Volini gave the relievers a night off, pitching to contact and inducing two double plays from his defense. Miami managed two hits in the third but did not record a base hit the rest of the game. The Seminoles have the luxury of throwing a legitimate top-of-the-rotation arm followed by the potential No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft the next day.

Florida State, looking to rebound from a loss to Mercer and jump on the Hurricanes early, did just that. Harrelson ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a leadoff single, and after an Alex Lodise strikeout, Max Williams gave his team an early lead. The center fielder worked a 3-1 count, turned on a low changeup and laced a line drive down the line that hugged the inside of the foul pole for a two-run homer. Two batters later, Myles Bailey muscled the same changeup to dead center for a solo shot.

Volini appeared to struggle early, throwing four straight balls to open the game for a walk, but he quickly found his groove. He retired the next six in order, with four strikeouts, climbing the ladder with his fastball and dropping in a 12-6 curve.

The Hurricanes hit him in the third with a leadoff home run and a single from Jake Ogden, but a slow-rolling 6-4-3 double play ended the frame and kept Volini’s pitch count manageable.

Up 3-1 heading into the fourth, the Seminoles broke the game open. Bailey cracked a double, his second extra-base hit of the day, and Jaxson West drove him in with an opposite-field single. After DeLamielleure’s infield single, Harrelson came up with two on and two out, worked a full count and brought home the second run of the inning on a single. On the next pitch, Lodise roped a single back up the middle, and Williams made it three consecutive hits as FSU went station-to-station.

Faurot became the ninth man of the inning and took advantage of poor Miami defense, reaching base and scoring a run on an error. When Bailey batted for the second time and struck out, the Seminoles had put up five runs in the frame and stretched their lead to 8-1, taking command of the game. For Jarrett, he likely most appreciated the six-pitch 1-2-3 bottom half from Volini.

After a relatively quiet fifth for both sides, Carns joined the hit parade, destroying a changeup to left-center for Florida State’s ninth run. With Harrelson hit by a pitch, Lodise, the captain, wanted an early night. The shortstop rifled the Seminoles’ fourth homer to the opposite field and bat-flipped before rounding first.

Leading 11-1, with a run rule in effect, the Seminoles left no doubt. Carns and Lodise both crushed two more home runs in the top of the seventh, the catcher with a solo shot and the captain bringing home Harrelson from first with an opposite-field blast. Volini took the mound for the bottom half and closed out the Hurricanes by striking out the side, a perfect final act as FSU routed Miami 14-1.

Jamie Arnold pitches tomorrow on his 21st birthday, looking to earn another win in a game 2 set for an 8 p.m. ET start.