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The Florida State Seminoles won in dramatic fashion, an 11 inning thriller Thursday night. Steven Wells hit a heroic home-run to give the ’Noles a 4-3 walk-off victory in a must-win series with national seed implications.
Three Up:
- Drew Parrish was sharp early. After a lead off infield single in the first he retired the next 12 batters until allowing another infield single with one out in the fifth. He then pitched around a Drew Mendoza error that put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out by striking out the next two batters giving him seven at that point in the game. The 6th inning wasn’t kind to Parrish, as he walked the leadoff batter, before allowed a 2-out single and a 3-run home-run that would give the Wolfpack a 3-2 lead. His day ended with 7.2 innings pitched, 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts.
- Florida State bats struck first. Back-to-back singles to start the third inning by J.C. Flowers and Mike Salvatore set the table for Rafael Bournigal who advanced both runners with a sacrificed bunt. Jackson Lueck followed with an RB I ground out to the right side, and Rhett Aplin followed with a single to give the ’Noles a 2-0 lead. However, no hit was bigger than Steven Wells’ game-winning line drive shot to left in the bottom of the 11th.
- The FSU bullpen was excellent. Clayton Kwiatkowski and C.J. Van Eyk combined for 3.1 innings of nearly perfect baseball. The duo combined for 5 Ks and 0 BBs with Van Eyk striking out the final 3 batters he faced after allowing a lead off triple to start the 11th.
Three Down:
- Hitters will struggle when facing most No. 1 pitchers, and they did for the most part tonight. Through 7 innings, the ’Noles managed just 6 hits, none for extra bases, while striking out out 7 times and earning just 3 walks. The biggest disappointment came in the bottom of the 7th when FSU had runners on 1st and 2nd with just one out, but Lueck and Aplin couldn’t deliver the go ahead run.
- Mendoza committed that aforementioned error in the top of the 5th, putting Parrish on the ropes. It gave NC State runners on 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out but the Sophomore southpaw was able to strike out the next two Pack batters to put out the fire. A good throw from the “hot corner” would’ve given FSU an inning-ending double play, meaning Parrish threw fewer pitches and faced fewer hitters.
- With no outs in the bottom of the third and runners on 1st and 2nd, Mike Martin decided to give away an out with the top of the order up (at least in name). Fortunately for the Seminoles it worked out, as they scored two runs, but it still isn’t smart baseball.
On Deck:
The Seminoles move to 38-16 on the season and 15-12 in conference play. Florida State plays again Friday evening in the second game of the series against NC State starting at 6 PM.