No. 2 FSU Baseball rolls to 8-2 win in series opener at Cal

Release from FSU Sports Information

BERKELEY, Calif. – Eight unanswered runs led the No. 2 Florida State baseball team to an 8-2 victory at Cal in the opening game of a three-game series on Friday night at Stu Gordon Stadium.

During the game, junior second baseman Drew Faurot tied the FSU record for consecutive at-bats with a hit at 12. He had four hits on Friday night along with four RBI and a run scored.

In their first visit to California since 2003, the Seminoles (35-10, 15-7 ACC) trailed 2-0 after three innings, but quickly answered to tie the game in the fourth and take a one-run lead in the fifth. Two more in the sixth and three in the seventh proved to be enough in the first-ever ACC matchup against the Golden Bears (19-28, 6-19 ACC).

Faurot entered the day with a hit in his last eight at-bats, going 4-for-4 in wins over No. 3 Clemson on Sunday and Jacksonville on Tuesday. He extended his streak to 12 with another four hits in his first four at-bats on Friday on the west coast. The 12-hit streak ties the school record set by Steven Wells in 2018.

In Friday night’s win, Faurot homered in his second at-bat, his fifth long ball in the three-game stretch and 14th in 2025. He also doubled and singled twice. Faurot came up in the ninth inning with a runner on and two outs, but his bid to break the consecutive hits record ended with a ground out. Along with the five home runs, the 12 at-bat stretch featured three doubles, four singles, two walks and nine RBI.

Junior shortstop Alex Lodise had three hits and a run scored. His first two hits extended his consecutive hit streak to seven before a strikeout in his third at-bat. Another junior, designated hitter Jaxson West, homered in the fifth, a leadoff shot that was the game-winning run on his first long ball of the season.

On the mound, junior left-handed starter Jamie Arnold allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings. He earned the win to improve to 6-1 on the season and notched his fifth quality start for FSU in 2025. The bullpen held Cal hitless in the final 3.0 innings after Arnold did not allow a hit in his final 2.0 innings of work.

Winners of four of their last five, the Seminoles scored eight runs on 12 hits with one error. The Golden Bears’ two runs came on six hits, all in the first four innings. UC committed two errors that led to three unearned runs.

While it was the first ACC matchup and first in Berkeley, FSU improved to 4-1 all-time against Cal.

Cal took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an infield single and a throwing error that allowed an unearned run to score. The Golden Bears made it 2-0 in the third on an RBI single with two outs after a leadoff double.

Faurot quickly answered with a two-run home run in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2. Sophomore third baseman Cal Fisher singled with one out to set up Faurot, who homered to right for his fifth in three games. Fisher then caught a line drive to end the bottom of the fourth and help Arnold leave two in.

West gave the Seminoles the lead in the fifth with his solo home run to right. The leadoff shot, his first in 2025, put FSU ahead for the first time, 3-2. Arnold then retired the side in order in the fifth.

The lead was extended to 5-2 when Faurot doubled home two in the sixth. With runners on thanks to an error and hit batter, Faurot brought them both home with a ball to left-center. Arnold struck out two and left a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth, with a strikeout to end the inning and his outing.

Three more insurance runs scored in the seventh to give FSU its 8-2 lead. Nine batters came to the plate in the frame, and West’s leadoff infield single got it started. The scoring commenced when junior center fielder Max Williams reached on a run-scoring fielding error, and freshman first baseman Myles Bailey then singled home another. The final run came on an RBI single from Cal Fisher.

Redshirt senior right-hander Joe Charles struck out two in a shutout seventh inning in relief of Arnold. He struck out three in the eighth. Sophomore righty Chris Knier closed out the win with an eight-pitch ninth inning.

The second-to-last weekend of the regular season continues on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET at Stu Gordon Stadium before Sunday’s finale at 4 p.m. ET.

Both games will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.

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