Florida State (41-17) jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in a “win and advance” game. Behind a stellar performance from the best pitcher in the ACC, Drew Parrish, the ’Noles won 5-2 against the ’Pack. Florida State has now won 13 of their last 14 ACC Tournament games.

Three up:

• Drew Parrish (5-0) was filthy. After allowing a leadoff single to start the game, he retired the next nine batters, including striking out the side in the 2nd inning. It wasn’t until Nick Derr’s throwing error to lead off the 4^th inning that a Wolfpack runner reached base. Parrish was unfazed by that, as he went on to strike out the side, once again. In the top of the 5th, NCSU had their second hit of the night, a single through the infield, followed by a double to left field scoring a run in part due to poor defense. The sophomore southpaw was extremely efficient on the night, as he threw a complete game on 120 pitches, allowing only the 2 runs on 4 hits, while striking out a career-high 14 (six looking), while issuing just 1 walk.
• Over the last month, Cal Raleigh has been a man on fire. In tonight’s game he went 3 for 5 with a double, and a two-run homer. He scored two runs and drove in three. His HR in the 3rd hit the giant bull above the left field wall. In his last 16 games, Raleigh’s hitting .470 with 8 doubles, 6 homers, 11 walks and only 10 strikeouts, while driving in 19 and scoring 16 runs.
• When you put more runners on base than your opponent your chances of winning greatly improve. Florida State put plenty of runners on base Friday night. As a team they hit .303 (10-33) with 3 extra-base hits. They did strikeout 11 times, but walked 5 times and constantly put pressure on North Carolina State to make plays.

Three down:

• There were some poor coaching choices in tonight’s game. With two outs in the fourth inning Cal Raliegh was thrown out trying to steal second which took the bat out of the five-hole hitter Steven Wells. Giving away outs early in the game is dumb; giving away outs when the opposing pitcher can’t throw a strike is even dumber. The first two batters of the 5th inning walked, but the FSU staff decided to bunt to move the runners over. Fortunately for the ’Noles, the Wolfpack pitcher was unable to make a play, loading the bases.
• An error by J.C. Flowers in the first and Nick Derr in the fourth had no effect on the score due to Drew Parrish’s dominance. But both errors were on extremely routine plays. It didn’t get better, with no outs in the 5th and a runner on first, Flowers couldn’t cleanly field a ball off the wall, allowing the first NC State run. He tried to make up for it, though, as his throw to third base beat the runner by ten feet, but Drew Mendoza inexplicably stayed on the bag to tag the runner, who snuck in safely by not sliding. Teams that contend for titles have solid defenses. Florida State has been below average all year.
• FSU had the leadoff runner on base in the first 6 innings, but only plated 2 of those runners. This was in part to double plays turned by North Carolina State in 3 straight innings (4th-6th). This is a little of a stretch because the only way to hit into double plays is to put runners on base, and the Seminoles did just that.

GAME THREAD

BOX SCORE

ON DECK:

Up next for the Seminoles is a semi-final match up with Clemson starting Saturday at 5 PM. The winner plays either Pittsburgh or Louisville in Sunday’s championship game.