Seminoles Take Key Series at Wake

One weekend after dropping its first ACC series of the season, fifth-ranked Florida State paid a visit to Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest. The series began as a match-up of the top two teams in the ACC Atlantic division. The Seminoles were able to win the first two games of the series to extend their lead to five games over Wake, but failed to complete the sweep on Sunday. With a record of 30-9 and 16-5 in ACC play, Florida State will host Stetson for a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday before taking on Virginia in a battle of the ACC’s top two teams next weekend. Here’s a look back on how Florida State took an important series at Wake Forest:

Florida State 7, Wake Forest 1
Friday, April 18th
Florida State starting pitcher Luke Weaver avenged a rough start to go the distance for Florida State. Weaver allowed just a run on three hits in nine innings while striking out seven and walking just one. Outfielder D.J. Stewart set a new school-record in the ninth inning by reaching base safely in his 58th straight game. It took a two-run single in the final inning to extend the streak as Stewart finished the evening with three RBIs. First baseman John Nogowski also drove in a pair of runs for the Seminoles. A solo home run in the eighth inning by Nate Mondou accounted for all of the Wake Forest offense.

Florida State 4, Wake Forest 3 (13 Innings)
Saturday, April 19th
Wake Forest rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force extra innings, but in the 13th, it was Danny De La Calle’s RBI single that scored John Sansone to put Florida State ahead for good. Sansone scored two of the four FSU runs while four different Seminoles finished with two hits. First baseman Matt Conway collected three hits and scored a run for the Demon Deacons. Florida State’s Jameis Winston worked 4 2/3 innings of shutout relief to pick up his first victory of the season.

Florida State 2, Wake Forest 5
Sunday, April 20th
Despite 11 hits in the series finale, Florida State was only able to push across a pair of runs with both coming in the top of the second. Shortstop Justin Gonzalez and catcher Danny De La Calle had back-to-back RBI hits in the inning, but FSU could not hold the lead. After getting two runs to tie the game in the fourth, Wake Forest finally took the lead on a Grant Shambley RBI single in the seventh. Wake Forest’s Matt Conway finished with three hits for a second straight day. Peter Miller took the loss for the Seminoles.