The Sunday daze settled in. Florida State spent much of the day sleepwalking through one of its most lopsided defeats of 2026.

Hunter Carns had an RBI double in the sixth and Eli Putnam went 2 for 3 with a pair of singles but the bats were quiet for the first five innings in a 11-4 loss to Duke on Sunday as the Blue Devils prevented a sweep.

Duke right-hander Andy Leon recorded nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings, and two Blue Devils relievers added eight strikeouts. It was the 12th time in 27 games that the Seminoles had double-digit strikeouts this season. The Seminoles struck out 15 times in game 1 of the Duke series, and they struck out a season-high 18 times in a loss at Florida earlier in March.

“I don't think we had really good back to back really good at-bats until Dowd and Carns in the sixth inning,” FSU coach Link Jarrett said. “That's not going to take you far enough in the game attempting to win it if it takes that long to have two really good at-bats in a row.”

FSU won its third straight ACC series on Saturday with the 12-11 victory over Duke, but it came at a massive cost as Myles Bailey was lost for the season with an ankle injury as he slid into second base. Bailey had surgery on his leg on Sunday, FSU announced in a statement about an hour before the third game began.

Without Bailey, the Seminoles looked lethargic and didn’t generate much at the plate in the first five innings. Coach Link Jarrett shuffled the lineup:

John Stuetzer (LF)

Kelvyn Paulino Jr. (DH)

Brayden Dowd (CF)

Hunter Carns (C)

Eli Putnam (1B)

Brody DeLamielleure (RF)

Cal Fisher (2B)

Carter McCulley (SS)

Will Bavaro (3B)

The Seminoles (21-6) had eight hits, six of them singles, and suffered their worst loss since a 10-1 defeat to Nebraska in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 22.

Duke jumped on FSU starter Bryson Moore in what amounted to a short start. The right-hander allowed seven runs on eight hits and three walks in four innings. Kevin Mebil and Cade O’Leary each gave up a run, while Jake Echols tossed two shutout innings.

Up next

FSU plays at Stetson on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+ live stream). The Seminoles will then travel to face Virginia in a three-game series that begins on Thursday.