Jarvis Shines as Duke Downs No. 11 Florida State, 2-1

Friday, March 6

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

4 p.m.

Duke University

Florida State

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Jarvis Shines as Duke Downs No. 11 Florida State, 2-1

3/6/2020 8:04:00 PM | Baseball

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DURHAM, N.C. – Blue Devil starter Bryce Jarvis worked 7.0 shutout innings to help the 12^th-ranked Duke baseball team to a 2-1 victory over No. 11 Florida State on Friday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. With the win, the Blue Devils move to 11-2 (1-0 ACC) on the campaign, while the Seminoles fall to 9-4 (0-1 ACC).

"The conversation starts with Bryce Jarvis," said head coach Chris Pollard. "He was just in complete control. He's an unbelievable competitor and it's really fun to watch. It's fun to be his coach. I thought it was a really good baseball game on both sides. Obviously they've got really good arms and we've got really good arms. We knew runs were going to be hard to come by in this series, and at least for today they were. We had a couple of big two-out hits and that was the difference."

Jarvis (3-1) was dominant once again for the Blue Devils, notching his third consecutive quality start. The junior right-hander allowed just one hit and one walk across his 7.0 innings of work, while racking up 12 strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season. Jarvis carried a perfect game through 6.2 frames before allowing his first baserunner of the day, who reached on a strikeout wild pitch.

Thomas Girard followed, covering the final two innings to pick up his third save of the season. The junior closer surrendered one run on no hits, while walking one and striking out five. With the performance, Girard is now tied for fifth all-time in Duke history for most career saves with 12.

The Blue Devils struck early in Friday's series opener, plating a run in the bottom of the first to gain the 1-0 advantage. Sophomore Ethan Murray began the scoring sequence, lining a one-out double off the left field monster. After Murray advanced to third on a groundout in the next at-bat, junior Michael Rothenberg cashed in with a RBI single through the right side to cross the game's first run and place the Blue Devils in the scoring column.

The two teams went scoreless across the next six frames, but Florida State would threaten in the seventh. After Jarvis allowed his first baserunner of the day on a strikeout wild pitch, Florida State registered its first hit of the contest with a single to left field. The Seminoles loaded the bases with a walk in the next at-bat, but Jarvis worked out of the jam with a strikeout looking to end the inning—his 12^th punchout of the afternoon and his final batter of the game.

Duke added insurance in the eighth, tacking on one run to extend the lead. Rothenberg began the frame, reaching on a throwing error by the third baseman. One batter later, junior Chris Crabtree ripped a RBI double to right center to plate Rothenberg and push the Blue Devil lead to 2-0.

Florida State did not go quietly, scoring its lone run of the contest in the ninth to make things interesting. The frame began with a four-pitch walk before the leadoff man advanced to second on a wild pitch. After another wild pitch moved the runner up to third, the Seminoles used a RBI groundout to cross one run and set the score at 2-1, the eventual final.

Duke returns to the diamond on Saturday afternoon, as the Blue Devils look to secure the series win over the Seminoles. The matchup is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch, with action airing live on ACC Network Extra.

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