The No. 16 Florida State baseball team lost its first game of the 2026 season to No. 9 Auburn, 8-5 on Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas.
The Seminoles (4-1) scored five runs on seven hits with one error, while the Tigers (5-1) had eight runs on 11 hits with two errors. FSU left eight runners on and AU stranded four.
Sophomore third baseman/second baseman Gabe Fraser registered two hits, an RBI and two runs scored to lead the team. Six players had at least one hit in the defeat.
On the mound, junior right-hander Bryson Moore allowed three runs, two earned, in 4.1 innings. He struck out three, walked two and allowed five hits. Sophomore righty Cade O’Leary suffered his first loss and allowed three runs on four hits in 1.2 innings.
FSU is 77-43 all-time against Auburn and 1-2 at a neutral site as the two teams played for the first time since 2022 and in the regular season for the first time since 2009.
The Seminoles took a 4-0 lead in the first inning on five hits. Sophomore designated hitter Noah Sheffield got the scoring started with an RBI single. FSU’s final three runs all came with two outs, as Fraser and redshirt sophomore right fielder Brody DeLamielleure both singled in runs. Fraser then scored on a wild pitch for the final run of the opening frame.
With the help of a double play, Moore threw a scoreless first. Auburn got a run back in the second on an RBI groundout following a leadoff single. It was unearned after a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at second. A solo home run in the third made it 4-2 before Moore struck out the next two batters he faced to end the inning.
A 6-4-3 double play ended the fourth following consecutive one-out singles.
In the fifth, Auburn scored three runs to take a 5-4 lead. A one-out walk marked the end of Moore’s outing, and with two on and two outs, a single scored the first run before a triple brought home two more. The batter was thrown out at home to end the inning.
FSU loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, with the help of an error, but a flyout prevented the Seminoles from tying the game.
The Tigers doubled their lead in the sixth on a sac fly to make it 6-4, and another sac fly in the seventh made it 7-4.
FSU got a run back in the eighth to cut its deficit to 7-5. Fraser was hit by a pitch with one out, took second on a two-out single and third on a wild pitch. He scored on a dropped third strike. However, Auburn also scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half to make it 8-5 after eight.
Two strikeouts ended the game in the ninth.
Up next
FSU plays Nebraska on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (FloSports).
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