NC State baseball lost a couple of heartbreakers over the weekend in Tallahassee, Florida against Florida State in its last ACC series.
The Pack (40-14, 19-11 ACC) lost to the Seminoles (39-17, 16-13 ACC) on extra inning walk-off home runs on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, NC State pulled out the win, marking its first win in Tallahassee since 2013.
The win also pushed the team over the 40-win mark, a feat that NC State had not accomplished since the 2013 that made it to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Florida State has been exceptional at home this year, because of the tough atmosphere opposing teams face. They are 30-7 at home, but only 9-9 away from Tallahassee this year. This should help the Pack when they face off in the ACC Championships on Friday at 7 p.m. in Durham.
The game was kept close on Thursday and NC State had a huge opportunity to take the lead in the 11th inning. Sophomore Will Wilson lead off the inning with a triple, but was unable to score due to three straight strikeouts to the Pack lineup.
Redshirt senior Joe O’Donnell gave up the walk-off in the bottom half of that inning. Unfortunately for the Pack, there was a similar story on Friday. It couldn’t get the lead behind a strong pitcher performance from senior Brian Brown and the bullpen and found itself behind 3-2 in the ninth inning.
Senior outfielder Brock Deatherage was able to tie up the score with two outs with a clutch solo home run. With Johnny Piedmonte in his second inning of relief in the tenth inning, he couldn’t stall the Seminoles’ offense, giving up a three-run home run to end the game.
The series finale went the Pack’s way as it picked up a 5-3 win. Junior outfielder Brett Kinneman went 2 for 3 with three runs scored and a home run. Junior first baseman Evan Edwards also had a home run to boost his team to a win.
Head coach Elliott Avent sent six different pitchers to the mound on Saturday showing a true team effort. That success should help them during the ACC Championship from May 22-27 where they could play four days in a row.
NC State will start the tournament on Thursday at Durham Athletic Park where it will take on Virginia at 3 p.m. Friday it will take on the Seminoles at 7 p.m. with the semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
