ACC Baseball: Another Wild Weekend in the ACC

FSU Baseball (Photo Credit: Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

It was yet another exhilarating weekend in ACC baseball, as the #9-ranked Florida State Seminoles faced off against the red-hot #25-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, the #14-ranked Louisville Cardinals matched up against the unranked North Carolina State Wolfpack, and the unranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons and North Carolina Tar Heels renewed their rivalry for the 307th time. Below I recap these series and a wild weekend in ACC baseball.

Florida State @ Virginia Tech

The Florida State Seminoles came into this important series against the Hokies after being humiliated by Wake Forest, 12-0 and 17-2, last weekend. That series loss against the Deacons seemingly gave the Seminoles a boost as they swept Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. In game one of the three-game set, the Seminoles took down the Hokies 3-1, largely due to their pitching staff. Florida State’s ace, Joey Vollini, pitched seven innings, allowing only one run on two hits and striking out five batters.

In game two, the pitching staff was terrific once again, but the Seminoles’ offense was even better, scoring 12 runs on 13 hits, with Golden Spikes favorite Alex Lodise driving in three runners. It was more of the same from the Florida State pitching staff in game three, as they allowed just two runs. Over the course of the three-game set, the Seminoles held the Hokies to just four runs total, showcasing their ability to make the College World Series when at their best.

Louisville @ NC State

This was arguably the wildest series in all of college baseball last week, with two of three games ending in run-rules. NC State came into this three-game set winners of their last weekend series against Virginia, looking to keep the momentum going. Although it was wild and not always easy for the Wolfpack, they were able to take two-out-of-three from the Cardinals and win their second consecutive series. In game one of this series, neither pitching staff had their best stuff, as the two teams combined for a total of 24 runs on 22 hits, but the Wolfpack were able to prevail 13-11 over the Cardinals.

Game two was even more wild, as Louisville scored a whopping 25 runs on 21 hits to run-rule NC State 25-8 in seven innings. Four different Louisville batters had at least three hits and the Wolfpack committed a total of five errors to propel the Cardinals to victory.

Game three was the exact opposite of game two, as the Wolfpack run-ruled the Cardinals 11-1 in eight innings. Justin DeCriscio was the x-factor for NC State, as he went four-for-five with a home run, two runs scored, and four RBIs. Clemson will face off against Louisville in a three-game set starting on Thursday, April 17 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Wake Forest @ North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels came into this series against a strong Wake Forest team, winners of their last three weekend series, most recently against their fierce rivals, the Duke Blue Devils. North Carolina kept their streak going with a sweep over Wake Forest, in which two of the three games ended in a run-rule. In game one, the Tar Heels had every facet of their game working, as they scored 11 runs on 14 hits and allowed just one run, resulting in an 11-1 victory over the Demon Deacons in seven innings.

Game two was even worse for Wake Forest, as North Carolina scored a whopping 17 runs and once again held the Deacs to just one run in seven innings. North Carolina starter Aidan Haugh went six innings of one-run ball to pick up his fourth win of the season and secure the series for the Tar Heels.

Game three was much closer than the previous two games, as both teams struggled to cross the plate, only scoring a combined five runs. Even though their offense struggled for the first time this series, North Carolina was able to get the sweep over their rivals, 3-2, as a Lee Sowers go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the seventh gave the Tar Heels the win. North Carolina’s next ACC series will be against the Virginia Tech Hokies, as the Tar Heels look for their fifth consecutive series win.