DURHAM, N.C. – When they lost two of three games in their final ACC regular season series against North Carolina, Florida State head coach Link Jarrett used two adjectives to describe his team’s play.
He thought they were “aggressive” and, at times, “reckless” at the plate and on the basepaths in that series.
They were again on Friday in their 14-7 ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory over Duke, but perhaps, they harnessed those traits a little better, exploding for eight runs in the third and cruising to victory behind a solid start from Jamie Arnold and stellar relief work from Joe Charles.
“This team, at times, felt to me a little reckless offensively, but aggressive and reckless can still be productive and dangerous,” Jarrett said following the win.
Jarrett’s team’s 14 runs came on 18 hits, with freshman Myles Bailey hitting a pair of solo homers, including an seventh inning shot that traveled 468 feet and hit the office building behind the right field seats.
But long before that exclamation point, the Seminoles had put the game out of reach.
After Gage Harrelson led off the bottom of the first by taking a Owen Proksch fastball off the arm, Alex Lodise singled, and then Max Williams walked to load the bases with no out. Myles Bailey singled to right, scoring Harrelson for a 1-0 lead and keeping the bases loaded. Two batters later, Drew Faurot hit into a fielder’s choice at third that allowed Lodise to score, and the Seminoles led 2-0.
Duke answered in the second, with Noah Murray hitting a two-run double that scored Tyler Albright and Macon Winslow to tie the game at two.
In the bottom of the second, Jaxson West lifted a fly ball to left center that hit off the video screen above the yellow home run line to give Florida State a 3-2 lead.
After Arnold retired the side in order in the top of the third, the Seminoles offense let loose in the bottom half of the inning, sending 11 batters to the plate, knocking eight hits and pushing eight runs across the plate. Myles Bailey led off the inning with a single, the first of five in a row by Florida State, and advanced to second on Cal Fisher’s single. Drew Faurot singled to load the bases, and then Chase Williams singled to score Fisher and Faurot.
That ended the day for Duke starter Owen Proksch, who threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out four.
In “the first, I thought Owen was a little too amped and we just missed some spots. We missed away when we were trying to go in, we missed in when we were trying to go to a four location with a fastball. That just tells me that he’s having a hard time managing adrenaline there in the first inning,” said Duke head coach Chris Pollard. “I thought at times we executed some pretty good pitches and pitcher advantage counts where they took some kind of off time swings, but were able to get enough of it.”
The pain continued for the Blue Devils once Gabe Nard took the ball, as Brody DeLameilleure doubled, scoring Williams, and then West walked to give the Seminoles runners at first and second with one out.
Alex Lodise, the ACC Player of the Year, hit an opposite field triple that rattled around the right field corner, allowing DeLameilleure and West to score. Max Williams then singled home West, and Myles Bailey came up for the second time and hit a two-run homer to put Florida State up 11-2.
Though Duke would add two more in the fourth, another pair in the sixth, and one run in the ninth, they never drew much closer, as Florida State, which had a chance to win the regular season title going into their final three-game set of the season against North Carolina, had put the game well out of reach long before. The Seminoles added runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh to keep the Blue Devils at bay.
Aside from the offensive output, Florida State got a solid start from Jamie Arnold, the No. 3 prospect for the upcoming MLB Draft according to MLB Pipeline. The lefty threw five innings and allowed five runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out seven. Reliever Joe Charles shined over the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out three, including a clutch strikeout of Ben Miller, the first batter he faced, ending a bases loaded threat in the sixth.
“I think he’s been more consistent with his approach to what he’s doing when he gets out there and Joe’s older,” Jarrett said. “It’s still, I think, a work in progress for him. And when he aligns it, you see that kind of outing, and we needed it.”
They got it, and they’re on the the semifinal.
2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament Schedule
Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, N.C.
All times Eastern Daylight Time
Tuesday, May 20 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pitt 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4
Wednesday, May 20 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 16 California 14, No. 8 Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, No. 12 Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, No. 15 Pitt 3
No. 14 Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Thursday, May 21 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 1 Georgia Tech 10, No. 16 California 2
No. 5 Clemson 7, No. 4 N.C. State 6
Friday, May 22 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 2 Florida State 14, No. 7 Duke 7
7 p.m. – No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 14 Boston College – Game 12
Saturday, May 23 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
1 p.m. – No. 1 Georgia Tech vs. No. 5 Clemson – Game 13
5 p.m. – No. 2 Florida State vs. Game 12 winner – Game 14
Sunday, May 24 – Game Broadcast on ESPN2
Noon – Championship Game
Photo: Jamie Arnold threw five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits in Florida State’s 14-7 win over Duke in the ACC tournament quarterfinals. (Photo courtesy of the ACC)
