Eighth-ranked Florida State’s effort to sweep North Carolina State came up short as the Wolfpack beat the Seminoles on Saturday, but FSU took back-to-back 1-run games to open the series. Taking two of three from N.C. State makes it a 3-1 week for Florida State after the Seminoles opened the week with an 8-3 victory over rival Florida in Jacksonville. For the year, Florida State is now 25-8 and 11-4 in ACC play. FSU has won each of its five ACC series and will host Florida Gulf Coast for two games beginning on Tuesday before traveling to Notre Dame next Friday to open a 3-game set.
Florida State 3, N.C. State 2
Thursday, April 2nd
Darren Miller’s 2-run single in the eighth inning put Florida State ahead for good and helped overcome five FSU fielding errors as the Seminoles took the series-opener in Raleigh. Jake Armstrong homered and drove in both N.C. State runs in the loss as the Wolfpack had their 7-game winning streak snapped. Alec Byrd retired a pair of batters in the seventh to earn the win and improve to 4-0 this season for the Seminoles while closer Billy Strode threw two perfect innings to pick up his ACC-leading ninth save.
Florida State 1, N.C. State 0
Friday, April 3rd
On a night when the Florida State bats were quiet, freshman starting pitcher Drew Carlton was downright dominant. In eight shutout innings, Carlton allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out four to improve to 2-1 for the season. The lone FSU run came on a RBI single from Quincy Nieporte that scored D.J. Stewart. Despite allowing just a run on five hits in 7 1/3 innings, Brian Brown took the loss for N.C. State. FSU’s Billy Strode pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 10th save of the season.
Florida State 7, N.C. State 11
Saturday, April 4th
N.C. State homered four times and pounded out 19 hits as the Wolfpack managed to avoid the sweep on Saturday. Jake Fincher, Logan Ratledge, Andrew Knizer, and Ryne Willard all left the yard for the home team in the win. Knizer and Willard each had four hits. Josh Delph had three hits, a run and a RBI for Florida State while catcher Danny De La Calle hit his sixth home run of the season in the loss.
