Florida State beats Duke, likely loses Myles Bailey for year

At about 5:10 p.m. on Saturday, the second game of the Florida State-Duke baseball series became rather inconsequential.

The Seminoles scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth, but star slugger Myles Bailey, racing to second after an errant pickoff throw to first, looked to dislocate his ankle sliding into the base. His leg was immediately put into an air-cast and he was stretchered off the field and into an ambulance in front of a stunned – and silent – Dick Howser Stadium crowd.

It was eerily reminiscent to the scene at Doak Campbell Stadium in November of 2023 when Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis was injured in the first half against North Alabama. And the result of the injury could have an equally devastating impact to the Seminoles’ title hopes.

Florida State wound up winning 12-11, but that was nowhere near the most important story of Saturday afternoon.

Immediately after Bailey was taken away in an ambulance, a Florida State fan behind the home dugout appeared to lose consciousness and had to be tended to by emergency personnel. The Seminoles were pulled off the field before the top of the ninth inning and the delay was about 20 minutes before the man was stretchered out of the stands into an ambulance.

He was conscious as he was led out of the grandstand.

Meanwhile, the game was the exact opposite of Friday night’s 3-1 pitchers’ dual.

Trey Beard gave up six runs and eight hits in his five innings of work and Brodie Purcell gave up an unearned run in the sixth and then four more in the top of the eighth as Duke tied the game at 11.

Florida State’s offense scored four in the first on RBIs from Brayden Dowd, Eli Putnam, Hunter Carns and Chase Williams. Then the Seminoles scored three more in the sixth, with the biggest blow being a two-run home run to right by Bailey. It was his 13th, and likely last, homer of the season.

Bailey was intentionally walked his next at-bat in the seventh to load the bases and the Seminoles proceeded to score three runs on three bases-loaded walks. And then FSU took the lead in the bottom of the eighth again, thanks in large part to an intentional walk to Bailey with a runner on third and two outs.

An errant pickoff attempt allowed FSU to score the go-ahead run, but the subsequent throw to second was when Bailey slid into second and wound up on a stretcher. He was initially ruled safe, but on replay review it was obvious he was out because his foot came off the bag.

The Duke players, for what it’s worth, were all on their knees in the middle of the infield as trainers worked on Bailey at the second base bag. They, like the rest of the stadium, were in complete and utter silence as one of the best power hitters in the country — maybe the best, in fact — was almost certainly lost for the rest of the year.

Right-hander Gabe Nard, a Duke transfer, came on with one on and one out in the ninth and retired the last two batters to secure the series win for the Seminoles, who are now 21-5 overall and 7-1 in the ACC.

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