Thursday May 21, 2015
Courtesy of TheACC.com
LINK: FLORIDA STATE TAKES DOWN TAR HEELS, 8-4
Seminoles need one more win to reach Sunday’s title game
DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – Florida State has never captured an Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, but the Seminoles took a giant step toward ending the drought on Thursday night.
Ben DeLuzio and Josh Delph each went 3-for-4 at the plate, and DeLuzio tied his career high with three RBIs as FSU downed eighth-seeded North Carolina, 8-4, in Pool A play.
Florida State (39-19, 2-0 in Pool A) has Friday off in the round-robin tournament before facing top-seeded Louisville (43-15, 1-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m. If the Seminoles win, they will advance to Sunday afternoon’s title game against the Pool B winner.
UNC (33-24, 0-2) faces fifth-seeded Clemson (32-26, 1-1) in Friday’s 3 p.m. game.
Redshirt junior right-hander Mike Compton (4-3) picked up the win on the mound for FSU, working 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits. He struck out six and did not issue a walk.
Compton retired UNC’s first 11 batters before yielding a two-out triple to Landon Lassiter in the fourth inning. He departed in in the sixth inning leading 5-2, and the Seminoles’ bullpen held on despite rumblings from the Tar Heels in the bottom of the ninth.
Trent Thornton (3-7) took the loss for the Tar Heels. Thornton struck out 10 batters in 5.1 innings, but also yielded nine hits and five runs (four earned).
FSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as Delph led off with a double and scored on Chris Marconcini’s two-out single to right field.
The nationally 10th-ranked Seminoles manufactured their second run in text-book style in the second inning as DeLuzio walked, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Danny De La Calle’s sacrifice fly. John Sansone added a two-out double for Florida State’s third run.
A pair of two-out hits made it 4-0 in the third, as Dylan Busby singled and scored on DeLuzio’s double to left field. Delph’s RBI single in the top of the sixth pushed the Seminoles’ lead to 5-0.
The Tar Heels chased Compton in the bottom of the sixth with three hits and two runs, including Tyler Ramirez’s shot down the right field line for their second triple of the game. Alex Raburn’s sacrifice fly brought home the first run, and Korey Dunbar’s two-out RBI single made it 5-2.
Florida State scored its final three runs in the top of the eighth, with a bases-loaded walk to Marconcini forcing home one run and DeLuzio following with a two-run single.
UNC picked up its final runs in the ninth with three hits off Seminole reliever Jim Voyles, capped by pinch-hitter Brian Miller’s two-run single.
