North Carolina may have made it into the ACC Tournament pool play but the Tar Heels didn’t seem to have much left after an emotional win over NC State to advance. Florida State easily handled Carolina 7-1 Wednesday night in Greensboro.
FSU pitcher Billy Strode, who started only three games this season, set the tone for the game by getting the Tar Heels in order each of the first three innings.
Offensively, the Seminoles pushed across a run on an RBI single by Justin Gonzalez but the big inning that opened things up was the fourth.
A controversial play at the plate went Carolina’s way against NC State on Tuesday but this time a controversial play went against the Heels. A one-out double steal, where the runner appeared to be out at third, led to a two-run double down the left field line by Danny De La Calle. That made the score 3-0.
“We knew they were going to try to run,” UNC coach Mik Fox said. “They do a great job of creating things offensively. We made a great throw but we didn’t get the call.”
An RBI ground out, which would have been the third out of the inning, plated a fourth run and then Casey Smit singled in a run to make it 5-0.
Fox said, “It’s hard to recover from a big inning like that with a team that pounds the strike zone and makes plays behind their pitcher.”
Carolina scattered a few hits and had chances to score in the fifth and sixth but double plays ended each threat.
After a Gonzalez home run made it 6-0, the Heels managed a run in the seventh as Alex Raburn singled in Landon Lassiter, who had reached on an error. But once again a double play ended the inning.
“The double plays obviously were huge for them and didn’t allow us to create any opportunities offensively,” Fox said.
Florida State’s John Nogowski finished off the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh.
The Tar Heels, now 33-24, have played a lot of crucial games lately and maybe it has taken a bit of a toll. Shortstop Michael Russell, probably the team’s MVP this season, was taken out of the game for precautionary reasons in the fourth with a sore back.
“We’re still fighting for our NCAA lives here,” Fox said.
The pitching staff has been taxed as Taylore Cherry, who started just six games this season, got the start. He gave up six earned runs in five and a third innings, giving up seven hits and three walks on 98 pitches.
The good news is with a day off Thursday, the Carolina starting pitchers on Friday and Saturday should be rested. “We did need to rest those guys,” Fox said. “Hopefully we’ll be fresh for the next two games.”
Benton Moss is expected to start against Virginia Friday night at 7 pm while Zac Gallen is slated to go Saturday at 3 pm.
Florida State, now 42-14, plays Maryland Friday at 11 am.
Note: While it wasn’t an exciting game for the nearly 5,000 fans on hand – including Roy Williams and Larry Fedora – it got loud when ACC t-shirts were thrown out into the crowd between innings and when Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston came on to pitch the ninth for the Seminoles.