FSU baseball: How Noles won series against No. 2 Notre Dame

FSU baseball (25-17, 17-12 ACC) made a major statement with its series win over No. 2 Notre Dame Saturday afternoon.

The Noles defeated No. 2 Notre Dame 7-1 in the rubber match to take the series and handed the Fighting Irish their first series loss of the year.

I wrote in the preview the Noles had to play clean baseball and do all the little things right to have a chance to win the series.

Defense

FSU baseball committed one error in the entire series. I mean, that speaks for itself, especially for a team with a .968 fielding percentage going into the series.

FSU pitchers

FSU pitchers did what they’ve been doing all season. All three starting pitchers had quality starts with 19 strikeouts, seven walks, and three earned runs allowed in 16 innings. It was a tad too many walks to my liking, but they found ways to get out of jams, and FSU pitchers overall forced Notre Dame to strand 15 runners.

The FSU bullpen was lights out when they were handed the lead by the FSU starters.

FSU batters

The FSU offense didn’t capitalize in some key situations and stranded 22 runners in the series. However, they took advantage of 14 walks and hit batsman by Notre Dame pitchers. The Noles trailed in the first game 1-0 before their offense got going with a 2-out walk in the fourth inning. That walk was followed by a single and another walk before Davis Hare hit a single to score two runs.

The rest of the offense came in the top of the ninth inning, which began with a hit batsman and a walk before Elijah Cabell launched a three-run bomb to secure the win.

The third game saw the Noles get on the board first in the second inning. The rally began with a walk and a hit batsman before Nander De Sedas laced a double down the line to score a run. The next time FSU scored began with two walks before Nico Baldor stroked a double to score two runs.

The Noles scored two more runs in the top of the sixth inning when Notre Dame pitchers hit a batter and walked a batter with the bases loaded to score two runs.

Parting Thoughts

It was a well-played series by both teams for the most part. FSU’s pitchers were better, and the ‘Noles offense came through with some key hits in some big situations. Nico Baldor was huge in the third game, finishing 3-3 with four RBI’s and a walk. Elijah Cabell has something like an eight-game hitting streak and finished the series 5-11 with three RBI’s.

Notre Dame tried to pitch around Matheu Nelson in the series, but he was still productive and was a factor on defense as well. Tyler Martin was 5-12 in the series and got hit by pitches twice. Nico Baldor had the huge game three and could earn more playing time in centerfield if he continues to hit the ball like that.

FSU baseball can beat any team in the country when they play good defense and find ways to manufacture runs on offense. They still need to find more consistent production from the 7-8-9 hitters, and hopefully, Robby Martin and Logan Lacy will return to their earlier season form sooner than later.

It was a big series win for the Noles and could put them back into consideration to host a regional if they finish the regular season strong. They will take on Florida Gulf Coast Tuesday at 6 p.m. in their next outing.