By R.L. Bynum
No. 4 North Carolina couldn’t finish off the road sweep of No. 2 Florida State and will be the No. 3 seed at next week’s ACC tournament.
After pinch-hitter Sawyer Black tied it with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Gavin Gallaher’s solo homer gave UNC the lead in the eighth inning, the Seminoles rallied for a 5–4 win Saturday on a steamy afternoon at Howser Stadium.
With a double-bye in the ACC tournament next week at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the Tar Heels (39–12, 18–11 ACC), who won the series’ first two games, won’t play until 7 p.m. Friday. UNC’s opponent will be No. 6-seed Virginia, No. 11-seed Notre Dame or No. 14-seed Boston College.
When N.C. State lost to Stanford 6–3 on Saturday, the Tar Heels knew that they’d be no worse than a No. 3 seed. Had Duke beaten Georgia Tech, UNC would have been the No. 2 seed, but the Yellow Jackets won 8–2, giving them the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed and leaving FSU as the No. 2 seed.
UNC and Florida State each finished a half-game behind Georgia Tech.
FSU freshman first baseman Myles Bailey launched a three-run homer off UNC starter Aidan Haugh (4⅔ innings, 6 hits 3 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts) with one out in the first after an Alex Lodise double and a Max Williams single.
Gallaher led off the second with a walk, took second on a wild pitch, and Alex Madera drove him in with a single to left-center field. That was the first of three UNC at-bats — also in the fifth and sixth innings — that ended with double plays. The Tar Heels left the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
Left fielder Carter French made a spectacular catch in the third inning to rob Bailey of an extra-base hit.
Haugh recovered from the tough start to pitch well, but came out with two outs in the fifth inning after walking two. After a catcher’s interference loaded the base, freshman right-handed reliever Ryan Lynch induced an inning-ending groundout.
Left-hander Wes Mendes was FSU’s most effective starter of the series, going 6⅓ innings, giving up four hits, one run and four walks with three strikeouts.
Mendes came out in the seventh inning after walking Tyson Bass with one out. In his first at-bat since suffering a hamate injury on March 30, Black greeted reliever Peyton Prescott with a two-run homer to right field to tie it.
FSU (39–13, 17–10) loaded the bases in the seventh inning with a single, a walk and a two-out hit batsman, but UNC freshman right-handed reliever Walker McDuffie struck out Chase Williams swinging to get out of the inning.
Gallaher’s 13th home run of the season, a blast to right-center field with two outs in the eighth inning, gave UNC a 4–3 lead.
In the eighth inning, after James Hankerson Jr. singled and moved to second on a groundout, McDuffie gave way to Camron Seagraves (loser, 2–1). After getting a groundout and intentionally walking Lodise, Williams and Bailey hit RBI singles to right field to give the Seminoles a 5–4 lead. After the walk, Seagraves got an inning-ending groundout as FSU left the bases loaded for a third time.
FSU reliever John Abraham (winner, 4–0) struck out the side, all swinging, in the ninth to finish off the victory.
No. 2 FSU 5, No. 4 UNC 4
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
ACC tournament
At Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Buy tickets at durhambulls.com or theacc.com/tickets
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2, 8 innings
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pittsburgh 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4, 10 innings
Wednesday’s second round
California 14, No. 8 seed Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, Pittsburgh 3
Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 seed Georgia Tech 10, California 3
Clemson 7, No. 4 seed N.C. State 6
Friday’s results
No. 2 seed Florida State 14, Duke 7
No. 3 seed North Carolina 7, Boston College 2
Saturday’s semifinals
Clemson 9, Georgia Tech 4
North Carolina 7, Florida State 5
Sunday’s championship
North Carolina 14, Clemson 4
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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