For the third straight year, Florida State will play in the ACC Championship. The eighth-seeded Seminoles notched a spot in Sunday’s title game with a 5-1 win over No. 9 seed Duke in the first of two semifinals on Saturday.
FSU starting pitcher Cole Sands had a career-day for FSU in a game that was delayed 90 minutes by rain. The bullpen made things a bit interesting at the end, but the Seminoles still prevailed. FSU will face either Miami or North Carolina for the title.
The Good: For a third straight ACC Tournament game, starting pitching was outstanding for Florida State. Cole Sands worked a career-high 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out a career-high eight. One day after committing three errors, the Seminoles also played mistake-free baseball in the field.
The Bad: For most of the day, the Duke offense was stifled. The Blue Devils managed just five hits with three of them coming in the ninth. Duke struck out 11 times and did not have a runner reach scoring position until the sixth inning.
The Ugly: Weather again interfered with a clean day and could have ended Sands’ day prematurely. A 90-minute delay came in the top of the seventh with Sands cruising and the FSU starter did not return.
Studs of the Game: In addition to Sands, who at one point retired 15 straight batters, FSU’s top four hitters had nice days. Taylor Walls, Dylan Busby, Jackson Lueck and Quincy Nieporte combined to go 8-for-15 with all five FSU runs and all five FSU RBIs. Busby was 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs, three RBIs and a stolen base. Jack Labosky drove in the only Duke run.
Duds of the Game: The Duke lineup was filled with O-fers as Kennie Taylor, Zack Kone, Max Miller and Jalen Phillips all went hitless. Duke starting pitcher Adam Laskey also had a tough day, yielding four runs in 2 1/3 innings. For FSU, J.C. Flowers remained hitless for the ACC Tournament, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Drew Mendoza was also 0-for-4 in the loss.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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