RALEIGH, N.C. – No. 6 Florida State (14-4, 3-3 ACC) won Sunday’s series finale against No. 12 NC State (19-1, 5-1), topping the Wolfpack 7-5 on Doak Field at Dail Park. J.C. Flowers hit his fourth home run of the season for FSU and earned his third save with a scoreless ninth inning. Shane Drohan improved to 2-0, pitching a career-high five innings.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| FSU | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| NC State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Drohan allowed five walks, but also struck out six and allowed just three hits. Outside of NC State’s run in the third inning, the Wolfpack did not reach second base against Drohan.
FSU struck first for three runs in the second inning, on an RBI single from Mike Salvatore and a two-run double off the bat of Reese Albert. NC State starter Michael Bienlien (2-1) lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks.
NC State got one run back in the third inning, with a bunt single, a walk and an RBI double from Patrick Bailey. With the bases loaded and one out, Drohan forced a groundout to third baseman Drew Mendoza, who got the lead runner at the plate, and an inning-ending groundout to Salvatore at second base.
FSU pushed its lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning. Flowers led off with a home run to left field, his fourth of the season, and Nico Baldor doubled off the center field wall, just inches shy of his first career home run. Nander De Sedas doubled to score Baldor, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Mat Nelson’s sacrifice fly.
De Sedas added an RBI single in the sixth inning to extend FSU’s lead to 7-1.
Conor Grady allowed three runs in the sixth inning to trim the lead to 7-4, but Clayton Kwiatkowski limited the damage and recorded seven outs, allowing just one single. Chase Haney came on in the eighth and allowed an RBI double, but Bailey lined out to Albert in right field with the bases loaded.
Flowers earned his third save with a scoreless ninth inning. A leadoff single was erased on a double play and Flowers struck out Brad Debo swinging to end the game.
OF NOTE
- Mike Salvatore finished the three-game series against NC State hitting 7-for-12 with at least one hit in each game. The senior second baseman hit for FSU’s first cycle since 2010 Saturday.
- C. Flowers’ homered and earned a save in the same game for the second time this season. Prior to Flowers accomplishing the feat against Virginia Tech last weekend, no Seminole had done it since Mike McGee in the 2010 College World Series.
- Reese Albert hit his second double of the season in the second inning, scoring two runs. Albert had a hit in each game at NC State after missing two weeks with a thumb injury.
- Mat Nelson had his third sacrifice bunt of the season and second of the weekend. FSU has four sacrifice bunts on the year. Nelson added his second sacrifice fly of the year to score Nander De Sedas in the fifth inning.
- Flowers hit his fourth home run of the season, and third in the past five games, to give FSU a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning. Flowers had two home runs combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
- Starting pitcher Shane Drohan went a career-high 5.0 innings, striking out six. He earned his second career win allowing just three hits.
- Third baseman Drew Mendoza walked in the seventh inning and has reached base safely in all 18 games this season. He was 0-for-5 at the plate to snap a 9-game hit streak.
- Clayton Kwiatkowski retired 7 of 8 batters faced in relief. His 2.1 innings pitched tied a season high.
- The loss was the first of the season for NC State, who entered the game 19-0 overall and 5-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
Up Next
Florida State hosts a pair of midweek games at Dick Howser Stadium against UCF and FIU. UCF comes to Tallahassee Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.; FIU and the Seminoles play Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. FSU has not named a starter for either game yet.
The game will stream live on ACC Network Extra. Fans in Tallahassee can listen on the radio on 106.1 FM and nationwide on the FSU Gameday App.
For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, or keep up with the team on social media through Twitter (@FSUBaseball), Facebook (/FSUBaseball), and Instagram (@NoleBaseball).
