FSU baseball drops to No.6 Duke in game 3; Seminoles win series

DURHAM – Junior James Tibbs III hit his 18th home run of the season in Sunday’s 16-4 loss at No. 6 Duke. Tibbs ranks ninth in Florida State history with 45 career home runs.

No. 10 Florida State locked up the series win against the Blue Devils with wins at Jack Coombs Field Friday and Saturday.

Tibbs was 2-for-3 Sunday with a double in the first inning and a 437-foot home run in the third inning. Tibbs’ 18 home runs lead the team and are a career-best, topping his 17 as a sophomore in 2023.

After FSU took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Duke scored 12 straight, including 10 runs in the second inning against five Seminole pitchers.

Cam Smith singled and scored a pair of runs, extending his on-base streak to 53 games, the eighth-longest in school history. Smith leads FSU with a .393 batting average and 55 runs scored.

SCORING SUMMARY:

T1 | FSU 1, Duke 0              Smith scored on a wild pitch

T1 | FSU 2, Duke 0              Dinges sacrifice fly, Tibbs scored

B1 | FSU 2, Duke 1             Stone reached on fielder’s choice, Morris scored

B1 | FSU 2, Duke 2             Bravo singled, Miller scored

B2 | FSU 2, Duke 3             Morris singled, Johnson scored

B2 | FSU 2, Duke 4             Gracia singled, Krewson scored

B2 | FSU 2, Duke 5             Morris scored on a wild pitchB2 | FSU 2, Duke 7             Bravo doubled, Gracia and Stone scored

B2 | FSU 2, Duke 10           Johnson home run, Bravo and Clark scored

B2 | FSU 2, Duke 11           Krewson home run

B2 | FSU 2, Duke 12           Morris home run

T3 | FSU 4, Duke 12            Tibbs home run (18^th, 437 ft), Smith scored

B4 | FSU 4, Duke 13           Gracia sacrifice fly, Johnson scored

B4 | FSU 4, Duke 15           Stone doubled, Krewson and Morris scored

B6 | FSU 4, Duke 16           Bravo doubled, Miller scored

OF NOTE:

• Third baseman Cam Smith singled and scored FSU’s first run in the first inning. He has reached base in 53 consecutive games, tied with Doug Mientkiewicz (1994-95) for the eighth-longest streak in program history.

• Smith leads FSU with a .399 batting average and 55 runs scored.

• James Tibbs III doubled and hit a home run, his 18^th of the year and most on the team. His 15 doubles are one shy of the team lead.

• Tibbs’ 45 career home runs are tied for ninth in FSU history (Ed Fulton, 1985-87).

• FSU has hit a home run in 18 consecutive games, tying the school record from the 1983 season. The Noles have at least one HR in 39 of 43 games.

• Marco Dinges earned his seventh sacrifice fly of the season, most on the team. He entered the weekend 14^th in the country in sac flies.

• Jaime Ferrer doubled to extend his hitting streak to a team-high seven games.

• Ben Barrett made his first appearance since March 2. He recorded an out on two pitches.

• Yoel Tejeda struck out a career-high five batters in 2.2 innings.

• Duke’s second inning included back-to-back-to-back home runs (first vs. FSU since 2005). The Blue Devils 10 runs scored in the frame were the most vs. FSU since 2017.

UP NEXT:

Florida State will host No. 21 NC State for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6:00 pm

More: Jared Verse, Braden Fiske reunited in Los Angeles; FSU players playing in NFC West | Nolebook

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU baseball falls to No. 6 Duke, Seminoles win series