The NC State baseball team fell to the Florida State Seminoles 15-11 in a high-scoring regular season finale on Saturday, May 22 at Doak Field.

The Wolfpack (28-15, 19-14 ACC) came back from an early 5-1 deficit, scoring ten runs between the fourth and sixth innings, but the Seminoles (29-21, 20-16 ACC) scored seven unanswered runs between the seventh and ninth innings to pull away and get the win.

“As good as Florida State is — that’s a very good baseball team, and with the mistakes we’ve made over the last two days that we haven’t made for two months… With that, you can see the resiliency of this ball club,” said head coach Elliott Avent. “We lose 15-11; we get a borderline 3-2 pitch in the ninth, I think we walk it off in the bottom of the ninth, everybody’s jumping up and down again.”

The Noles got the scoring started in the top of the first with a two-run home run to go up 2-0. The Pack answered in the bottom of the first as junior left fielder Jonny Butler (2-6, 2 RBI) hit an RBI single that scored sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough (2-4, 2 BB) to make the score 2-1.

After two scoreless innings from both teams, the Noles got on the board again in the top of the fourth with a three-run home run to go up 5-1. The Pack answered again in the bottom of the inning as junior right fielder Devonte Brown (2-4, RBI, BB) hit an RBI double that scored freshman shortstop Jose Torres (3-5, RBI, HR), and sophomore third baseman Vojtech Mensik (2-3, RBI, BB) hit an RBI single that scored Brown to make the score 5-3.

The Pack scored again in the bottom of the fifth as McDonough scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Luca Tresh (0-5, RBI, 4 K), which was followed by back-to-back solo home runs by junior designated hitter Terrell Tatum (2-5, 3 RBI, 2 HR) and Torres to give the Pack its first lead at 6-5.

“We’re not willing to give up on anything,” Tatum said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re up by five or down by five, we’re not gonna stop fighting ‘till the end of the game.”

The Noles hit a two-RBI single and scored another run on an error on the same play to retake the lead 8-6 in the top of the sixth, but the Pack had another big answer in the bottom of the inning as Butler hit an RBI single that scored McDonough and junior second baseman J.T. Jarrett (0-4, RBI, BB), Tatum hit a two-run home run that scored Butler, and Jarrett drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Torres to make the score 11-8.

That was all the scoring the Pack would do as the Noles scored on a solo home run and a bases-loaded walk in the top of the seventh, another solo home run in the top of the eighth, and an RBI single, a wild pitch and a two-run RBI single in the top of the ninth to get the win 15-11.

The Pack went through seven pitchers on the day, with freshman Matt Willadsen (3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K) getting the start and junior Canaan Silver (2.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER) taking the loss.

Coming into the game, the Pack had already locked up the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament, which will be held May 25-30 in Charlotte. After starting the season 1-8 in conference play, the Pack has since won 24 of its last 30 games, winning four series against ranked opponents, including Florida State, and enters next week’s tournament as one of the hottest teams in the ACC.

“This team’s so resilient,” Avent said. “They’ve got a lot of heart… This is a team that has as much heart and character as any team that I can ever remember at NC State.”

The schedule for the tournament has not been released yet, but the Pack will be in the same pool as North Carolina and Pitt.