The NC State baseball team’s run through the ACC Tournament ended in defeat Sunday, falling to No. 10 Florida State, 6-2.

A three-run shot in the bottom of the third gave the Seminoles (41-19) the lead, and the Wolfpack (34-21) was unable to claw its way back.

“They [FSU] played extremely well,” head coach Elliott Avent said. “We played well today, just a couple opportunities we didn’t take advantage of.”

In the first inning, State missed an opportunity which came back to haunt the team in the end.

After putting the its two lead-off runners on base with no outs, Avent made a controversial call, ordering sophomore first baseman Preston Palmeiro — a .330 hitter — to lay down sacrifice bunt.

However, the next two Wolfpack batters struck out, stranding two runners in scoring position.

“Early in the game, we had a couple opportunities and didn’t take advantage of it,” said senior shortstop Logan Ratledge, one of the runners left on base. “At the same time, that’s baseball.”

The pitching on both sides was dominant early, until NCSU starter Johnny Piedmonte left a ball over the plate for second baseman John Sansone, who powered the shot over the left field wall to drive in three.

The Pack responded in the top of the fourth, scoring on one of the most peculiar plays of the season.

With the bases loaded, outfielder Jake Fincher hit an infield pop-fly, which was dropped by the FSU fielder. Due to the infield fly rule, Fincher was ruled out, but third baseman Joe Dunand ran home, scoring a run.

The FSU catcher stepped on home plate with the ball, but because it wasn’t a force play and he didn’t tag the runner, Dunand was ruled safe.

“They always say if you stay around baseball long enough, you’ll see something you haven’t seen before,” Avent said. “With the infield fly, I’m not really sure what happened.”

On the next at-bat, the Seminole catcher mishandled a pitch, allowing another Wolfpack runner to score.

The ‘Noles answered back in the following at-bat, driving home two runs of their own and putting the game out reach for the Pack.

FSU pitcher Boomer Biegalski earned the win, striking out five and allowing just one hit over 4.2 innings pitched.

“He [Biegalski] is a great pitcher,” Ratledge said. “He did a great job of keeping hitters off balance.”

NC State will now await its Regional placement, which will be announced Monday at noon on ESPNU.