Arnold dominant as Florida State improves to 17-0 on the year with 4-2 win over Notre Dame
It wasn’t the typical offensive explosion from the Florida State bats on Saturday.
The arms made sure it didn’t matter.
Led by Jamie Arnold’s career-high 12 strikeouts, the Seminoles recorded 17 on the day en route to a 4-2 win over Notre Dame at Dick Howser Stadium.
Florida State improves to 17-0 on the season and is still the only undefeated team in the country (Texas A&M lost on Friday to Florida). The Seminoles will go for the sweep to start ACC play on Sunday.
Just like it did in Game 1, the Florida State offense started the scoring early on Saturday.
Max Williams, who was leading off in place of DeAmez Ross, tripled down the left-field line to start the game and then Cam Smith was hit by a pitch. James Tibbs hit a rocket to the second baseman that turned into a line-drive double play, but cleanup hitter Jaime Ferrer made sure the Seminoles got on the board anyway.
The junior launched a two-strike pitch to deep center, and it just snuck over the wall for a two-run homer.
From there, Notre Dame got one back in the top of the third. A one-out double off the screen and then a single to left put runners on the corners with one out. Arnold induced a soft grounder to third, but the Seminoles could only get the runner at second, allowing the Irish to score the first earned run of the season off Arnold.
It was all they would get off him.
The sophomore lefty was dominant in his 5 2/3 innings, striking out 12 and allowing just four hits and the one earned run. He walked none and hit one batter.
The Seminoles’ offense wasn’t as potent as normal on Saturday, but they did scratch across two more runs in the fifth.
Daniel Cantu led off with a double down the right-field line. He then scored when Jaxson West’s ground ball to first hit off the bag and got past the first baseman for an RBI single. West then advanced to third on a bunt base hit by Alex Lodise — in which nobody was covering third — and Tibbs scored him a couple of batters later with a sacrifice fly to center.
Andrew Armstrong came on in relief for Arnold in the sixth and allowed a run in the eighth on a solo homer by leadoff hitter T.J. Williams. The lefty struck out the next two to retire the side and give the Seminoles a two-run lead heading to bottom of the eighth.
Florida State had a chance to add on after a Tibbs one-out walk, a Ferrer single and then a wild pitch. But Drew Faurot struck out looking and Marco Dinges, for the second time in the game, flew out to the wall in right-center field to end the inning.
Noah Short started the ninth for the Seminoles and issued a one-out walk. Brennen Oxford then came on and recorded a strikeout before allowing a double to left.
With the tying runs in scoring position and the go-ahead run in the box, Oxford induced a pop-out to catcher Jaxson West to end the game and extend the winning streak to 17.
Florida State closes out the series with Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET (ACCNX).
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