Chapel Hill, North Carolina – this North Carolina Tar Heels The offense hit a home run on the first pitch they saw and rolled from there. FSU’s starting pitches struggled for the third straight game against UNC as the offense stalled in an 11-0 loss.
The Seminoles got a walk from Jordan Carrion and Brett Roberts but couldn’t get either runner into the first start. At the bottom of the first quarter, Angel Zarate threw Habart’s first ball over the right field fence. UNC would load the bases after an FSU error, a UNC walk and a single before Hubbart took his third strike out of the inning. Hubbard totaled 33 pitches. Brock Mathis singled to start the second inning, but outfielder selections and doubles ended the frame. Habart was completely out of control at the start of the second inning. He hit the first batter he faced, walked the next batter, and batted Zarate to load the bases with zero outs. Hubbart improved the next batsman’s count to 2-0 before coach Mike Martin Jr saw enough, replacing Hubbs with Conner Whittaker. North Carolina put back-to-back sacrifice flies to take their scoring total to three before Whittaker struck out Vance Honeycutt to end the inning. Overall, North Carolina scored twice with zero hits.
In the third quarter, Colton Vincent was grounded, Isaiah Perry was called out for hitting his bat twice, and then Carlyon singled. Jaime Ferrer was grounded in Game 3. Whitaker kept North Carolina scoreless in the third quarter, walking around a man. Roberts went into the fourth, but FSU ended their half innings 1-2-3. Whit continued the tar-heel offense around a two-out single. The Seminoles recorded two outs to start the fifth before Perry walked away and stole the second. With two strikes, Carrion watched three strikes on a boundary call to end the top half of the fifth. Whitaker walked Honeycutt to start Game 5, and was relieved against Alberto Osuna. Next up was Jackson Baumeister and started walking Osuna. A sacrifice bunt followed, and UNC got their fourth game with their third sacrifice fly ball. Ferrer led the sixth inning with a double center, but was in trouble as FSU went 1-2-3 again after taking the lead. Baumeister struck out the first batter he faced in the sixth inning before walking down two more. Baum picked up his second K and loaded the base with a third walk. Jonas Colaro was called to save an innings and allowed a two-run two-run single to Osuna to improve the score to 6-0. After another walk, Scolaro ended the inning with a strikeout.
FSU took seventh place in singles from James Tibbs and Treyton Rank, but FSU moved up three and then dropped three. The game was delayed by two hours due to weather and went into the bottom of the seventh inning. When the game resumed, Jackson Nezuh walked to the mound and stepped up to the first batsman he faced. A sac bunt later won with UNC in their seventh singles match. Mac Horvath then pulled Nezuh deep to extend the lead to 9-0. Nezuh hit the next hitter and Martin went to Andrew Armstrong. Repeating the same performance as the midweek game against the Florida Gators, Armstrong allowed the first hitter he faced to hit a two-run homer. Armstrong hit the ball again before finally closing the seventh inning. FSU’s offense in the eighth was 1-2-3. Kyle McMullen pitched for Florida State in the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out all three hitters. The FSU offense crept into the night in the ninth quarter as Carolina won the game 11-0 to sweep the Seminoles.
one on
Whitaker fills the void
It was the second time Whitaker had played in an extended series after throwing a four-inning clearance in Game 1. He was able to slow down UNC’s offense and keep the game close even though he allowed two inherited runners to score via sac fly. It was a near-repeated performance when he was asked to stop the bleeding from Thursday. For this series, Whitaker threw 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB.
three times
FSU’s starting pitch sets the stage for UNC
Following Hubbart’s 1.0 IP today, FloridaThe starting pitches against UNC were 10 IP, 13 H, 10 ER, 10 K, 5 BB. They also gave up four home runs combined. Heading into the playoffs, FSU’s most reliable starters (Messick and Hubbart) are battling, while the Seminoles are still looking for answers on third.
Offensive Display of FSU Bats
After recovering from last weekend’s offense against Miami, FSU’s offense cooled off after its first game against UNC. In today’s game, the FSU offense was 0/9, the runners were in scoring position, and only the runners on the bases had two hits.
The cowshed is broken
At the start of the season, FSU’s nib struggled to get its footing. After a rough start to February and March, the pen has been a success and has become the backbone of the team. Wyatt Crowell struggled in Friday’s loss before falling off his arms after Whittaker today. The four pitchers following Whittaker combined for 3 IPs, 5 Hs, and 7 ERs. Kyle McMullen was the fifth reliever behind Whittaker and pitched a clean eighth.
Next: this ACC Championship Starts Tuesday.
