May 22, 2003

The top-ranked Florida State Seminoles defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 13-0, Thursday afternoon in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at Salem (Va.) Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Junior Tony McQuade went 3-for-4 with a double and triple to lead the Seminole offense while junior Blake Balkcom and sophomore Danny Wardell each hit a home run for FSU. Senior Matt Lynch shut down the Blue Devils, scattering six hits and two walks in 8.0 scoreless innings.

After Florida State took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a single and two Blue Devil errors, Duke was unable to take advantage of early opportunities to get back in the game. Sophomore Tim Layden led off the top of the second inning with a double to center field and advanced to third on a groundout by freshman Lee Lawrence. But Lynch recorded two of his seven strikeouts to get out of the inning with a 3-0 lead. In the third inning the Blue Devils loaded the bases with a single, hit batter and walk, but left the bases loaded.

FSU extended its lead to 6-0 in the fourth inning. Wardell tallied an RBI-single and McQuade had a two-run double in the inning. The 'Noles added two runs in the sixth inning on Wardell's home run and one run in the seventh on a double by sophomore Aaron Cheesman.

A four-run eighth inning, highlighted by Balkcom's two-run home run, capped the scoring for FSU, which extended its hitting streak to nine games.

Freshman second baseman Michael Golom led Duke with two hits and freshman left fielder Javier Socorro extended his hitting streak to nine games, tying a career high.

Freshman Russell Durfee (0-5) took the loss, giving up eight runs (six earned) in 5.1 innings pitched. Lynch improved to 12-3 with the win.

Duke (17-35) is scheduled to play Clemson (38-19) on Friday at 10:00 a.m. in an elimination game. The Seminoles (48-8-1) are scheduled to play North Carolina at 5:00 p.m. Friday.