05-28-2004, 09:10 AM
Quote:FSU 100 110 210 6 11 2
Duke 020 001 000 3 9 1
W - Chambliss (4-1) L - Schreiber (5-5)
Noles drop Duke to set up showdown with Georgia Tech
by Drew Hankin
Florida State advanced to Friday's winner's bracket game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets with a 6-3 win over the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday night/Friday morning in Salem, Virginia at the ACC Baseball tournament. The Seminoles got multi-hit games from Eddy Martinez-Esteve and Ryne Malone, to go along with a great relief performance by Tyler Chambliss (4-1) who record his second win in as many games.
The Noles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Bryan Zech drew a lead-off walk, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a groundout by Stephen Drew, and scored on a single through the right side by Martinez-Esteve.
The Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs off of Seminole starter Mark Sauls in the bottom of the second inning, and tied it up when catcher Bryan Hernandez scored on a double play ball. Duke then took he
lead on a single to right by third baseman John Berger that put the Devils ahead 2-1.
Duke had two runners on base in the next inning with only one out thanks to a single by Hernandez and an error by Malone, but Sauls got out of the jam with a fly ball and his first strike out of the game.
An inning later, FSU tied it up when Malone led-off with a double down the right field line, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Sauls, and scored when Chapman singled off of Duke starter Zach Schreiber's leg. After a single by Shane Robinson, Dennis Anderson reached on an error to load the bases with only one out, but Zech lined out to short and Drew did the same to first to end the threat.
The Noles took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning when Martinez-Esteve tripled to right and scored on a strange pop-up by Aaron Cheesman that was caught by second baseman Bryan Smith who then fell down after catching the ball. An alert Martinez-Esteve then tagged and scored to put Florida State ahead.
After two three-up, three-down innings in a row, Sauls gave up the tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Smith doubled to left, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single to left-center by right fielder Corey Whiting. Chambliss came in and got the first batter to strike out before a double play ended the inning with the score 3-3.
FSU went ahead for good in the top of the seventh inning when Drew missed a homerun by inches, and had to settle for a lead-off triple off the wall in center field, before scoring on a double to right by Martinez-Esteve. After a pitching change, Cheesman reached on a bunt single and moved Martinez-Esteve to third before a sacrifice fly by Malone brought home run number five for the Tribe.
Florida State picked up an insurance run in the next inning when Robinson doubled to left, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Anderson, and scored on a fly to right by Zech that made it 6-3.
Duke put one last scare into the Noles in the bottom of the ninth inning when an error by Anderson and a double put the tying run at the plate with only one out, but left fielder Javiar Soccorro fouled out to right, and pinch-hitter Mike Miello struck to end the game and send the Noles to Friday's winner's bracket game.
Chambliss earned the win, pitching four scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out five batters without a walk.
Florida State improved to 39-19 on the season and will now face the #1 seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Friday at 5:00 pm. The Jackets got to that game by beating the Clemson Tigers 11-7 in a 13 inning marathon on Wednesday evening. The Noles went 0-3 against Tech earlier in the season in Tallahassee, losing games 11-4, 12-2, and 7-6.
Duke fell to 25-30 on the season and now must try to battle out of the loser's bracket with a game against North Carolina at 1:30 pm on Friday.
Section B Online Players of the Game:
Tyler Chambliss (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K)
and
Eddy Martinez-Esteve (3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B, BB)
Goooooo NOLES!!!
