TALLAHASSEE – The Butler baseball team took an 11-0 loss at Florida State on Friday night to open the 2024 regular season. The Seminoles hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to take control of the contest and back-to-back homers in the eighth would take us to our final score.
 
Butler ended the night with four hits, two of which came courtesy of Carter Dorighi. The BU shortstop hit third in the order and ended the game 2-for-4 from the plate. Freshman Kade Lewis led off the seventh inning with a double to right and Butler's final hit came from Xavier Carter who led off for the Bulldogs in the opener.
 
Seminole starter Cam Leiter was dominate on the hill in his FSU debut. The sophomore right-hander struck out 13 batters over five full innings. As a team, Florida State ended the night with 22 strikeouts.
 
Offensively, the Seminoles took advantage of three wild pitches to grab a 3-0 lead after two innings. James Tibbs III blew the game open with a grand slam in the sixth and pinch-hit home runs would follow in the eighth by Max Williams and Cal Fisher.
 
The 'Dawgs used four arms on the mound with Justin Hornschemeier making his Butler debut. Nick Miketinac had the best stuff on Friday night, limiting FSU to just one run over three full innings. Aidan Hatcher threw two in relief and Jake Putnam took care of the eighth.
 
Tomorrow's game between Butler and Florida State has been moved up to 12 PM due to inclement weather. Fans can once again catch the game live on the ACC Network.