Pack drops barn burner to end regular season
RALEIGH -- NC State accomplished everything it needed to in this weekend’s series with Florida State - a series victory to lock in the No. 3 seed in Charlotte next week - but could not secure the sweep in a 15-11 loss Saturday.
The two teams battled back and forth all afternoon, with four lead changes. The Seminoles scored four runs in the top of the ninth to eventually secure the victory.
NC State scored 11 runs on 14 hits in this one. Terrell Tatum homered twice and drove in three, and Jose Torres also homered for NC State. Tyler McDonough doubled twice and scored three runs. Jonny Butler extended his streak of games with multiple hits to 11 with a 2 for 6 game and two RBIs.
Matt Willadsen struggled in his final start of the regular season, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out three and walking two in 3.1 innings. Chris Villaman also had a bit of a tough day, allowing three earned runs on four hits while striking out one and walking two in 2.1 innings.
Andrew Tillery, Canaan Silver, Dalton Feeney, John Miralia and Garret Payne also saw action for the Wolfpack.
With the game tied at 11 in the top of the ninth, Silver, in his first outing since March 21, recorded two outs before allowing a walk and single and giving way to Feeney. Feeney’s first batter, Logan Lacey, who had picked up big hits all weekend for the Seminoles, plated the go-ahead run with a single. The Seminoles then extended their lead to 13-11 with a wild pitch from Feeney. Elijah Cabell singled in two more with Payne on the mound to make it 15-11 Florida State.
Despite a leadoff walk for McDonough in the bottom of the ninth, the Wolfpack could not plate another run.
The Seminoles jumped out in front quickly in this one, as, following a leadoff single, Matheu Nelson lined a two-run homer over the left-field wall to make it a 2-0 game.
The Wolfpack wasted little time answering in the bottom of the first, as, following a one-out double by McDonough, Butler extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single to center to make it 2-1.
After he replaced Willadsen with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the fourth, Villaman’s first batter, Jackson Greene, sent a three-run homer over the left-field wall to extend Florida State’s lead to 5-1.
Similarly to the first inning, however, the Wolfpack answered right back. After a one-out single by Jose Torres in the bottom of the fourth, Devonte Brown roped an RBI double into the left-field gap to bring him home and Vojtech Mensik brough Brown in with a single through the right side of the infield to make it 5-3.
The Pack then plated three more in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead. After McDonough led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, Butler popped out to second, but a throwing error moved McDonough to third. That error loomed large as Luca Tresh brought McDonough home with a sac fly to make it 5-4.
Tatum and Torres then launched back-to-back solo shots out of the park to give the Wolfpack a 6-5 lead, as NC State scored five unanswered after Green’s homer.
Lacey, who tied Thursday’s game with a grand slam, came through again for the Seminoles in the top of the sixth, plating two with a bases-loaded, two-out single to give Florida State the lead. A third run came home as Tresh airmailed a throw to second into center field, giving FSU an 8-6 lead.
Once again, however, the Pack answered the Seminoles’ big inning with one of its own. With runners on the corners and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Butler extended his multi-hit game streak to 11 games by driving an RBI double to center to tie the game at eight.
With Butler on second and two outs, Tatum hit his second homer of the game, a mammoth shot to dead center that put the Wolfpack up 10-8. The Wolfpack batted around and plated five runs in that bottom of the sixth, as a bases-loaded walk for J.T. Jarrett extended the NC State lead to 11-8.
The Seminoles got one back in the top of the seventh as Robby Martin led off with a solo homer, and then loaded the bases with one out via a walk, double and hit batter off Andrew Tillery, then plated another with a bases-loaded walk to make it 11-10, leading Avent to replace Tillery with Canaan Silver, the latter’s first appearance since March 21 against Louisville. Silver got out of the jam with a pop out and flyout to the warning track to keep the Pack up 11-10.
Nelson came up big again for Florida State in the top of the eighth, tying the game with a towering shot to dead center.
Next up for NC State is next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, where the Wolfpack will be the three seed. The team completed a remarkable turnaround over the season’s final two months, finishing 24-6 overall and 18-6 in ACC play after starting 4-9 and 1-8.