Florida State baseball came out on top Friday night with a 6-3 victory over the NC State Wolfpack in the second game of a 3-game series at Dick Howser Stadium.
Reese Albert smacked a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to take the series. The Seminoles will go for the sweep as both teams wrap up the regular season on Saturday.
The Good: Andrew Karp’s composure was on full display on Friday night. Karp started the game very well and made it to the fourth inning with just two hits given up. He struggled in that fourth inning by giving up two home runs and letting NC State take the lead, but head coach Mike Martin let him stay in to ride it out, which proved to be a good decision. Karp went for four more innings and gave up no more earned runs.
The Bad: NC State’s sixth inning almost proved to be the deciding frame. After shutting out the Seminoles for the first five innings, starting pitcher Brian Brown lost steam and loaded the bases. Nolan Clenney came in to relieve him but he was unable to prevent Florida State from getting on the scoreboard. The Seminoles took a 3-2 lead that would last until the ninth inning.
The Ugly: The Wolfpack made five errors total, allowing FSU base runners to advance on each occasion. Those errors were enough to lower the NC State fielding percentage to .889 for the game. The pivotal mistake came in the bottom of the sixth, when J.C. Flowers hit it to the shortstop Will Wilson with bases loaded and two outs. Wilson was unable to get a throw off, and FSU put a run on the board. Reese Albert then hit a 2-run line drive single into right field to give FSU a 3-2 lead.
Studs of the Game: Andrew Karp going for eight innings and striking out seven earns him some recognition. Reese Albert was by far the most important batter of the game. He walked it off the for the Seminoles in the bottom of the 10th inning, finishing with two hits, one run, and an impressive five RBIs. That’s the second straight walk-off win of the series.
For NC State, Will Wilson and Brock Deatherage were the two batters to hit home runs. Deatherage was especially notable since he hit two of them, including a tying shot in the top of the ninth with two outs off Jonah Scolaro.
Duds of the Game: FSU second baseman Rafael Bournigal went 0-for-4 in the lead-off spot and missed a potential out late in the game. NC State’s lead-off hitter Stephen Pitarra had similar struggles and also went 0-for-4 at the plate.
Extra Innings: Someone should do a survey on Florida State’s record the week before finals and compare it to the week after finals. Maybe all that pressure gets lifted from the players’ minds and they play better. Surely this would be a worthwhile venture.
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