The Daily Nole

NC States Avoids Sweep, Tops FSU

Larry Novey/FSU athletics

A 3-game sweep of a top-10 team wasn’t in the cards for Florida State as the Seminoles dropped the series and regular season finale on Saturday at Dick Howser Stadium. FSU fell at home to NC State, 5-3.

FSU will finish the regular season with a record of 39-17 and 16-13 in ACC play. The Seminoles will look to defend their ACC title at the conference tournament, which gets underway Tuesday in Durham.

The Good: Florida State starters pitched into the seventh inning in each game of the 3-game series. Cole Sands went six innings on Saturday, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking just one. NC State continued to utilize the long ball. The Wolfpack homered twice on Saturday. Neither team committed an error.

The Bad: With FSU trailing 4-3 in the ninth, right fielder Steven Wells left the sunglasses on his hat and allowed a popup to fall in front of him for a lead-off double. The Wolfpack would capitalize for an insurance run with a ground ball and a sacrifice fly.

The Ugly: It was a day for missed opportunities for Florida State. Both teams had seven hits, but the Seminoles left 10 on base, compared to just four for NC State. FSU left them loaded in the fifth, the go-ahead run in scoring position in the seventh and the tying run in scoring position in the eighth.

Studs of the Game: NC State’s Brett Kinneman was 2-for-3 with a homer and three runs scored in the victory. Evan Edwards also homered for the Wolfpack and finished with three RBIs. For FSU, Cal Raleigh and Rhett Aplin were each 2-for-3. Raleigh homered and drove in two runs while Aplin had an RBI in the loss.

Duds of the Game: FSU’s Drew Mendoza was 0-for-4, which included a big strikeout in the seventh. NC State’s Josh McLain was 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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