FSU baseball: Elijah Cabell walk-off home run gives Noles win over FGCU

FSU baseball (26-18, 17-13 ACC) split its mid-week series against Florida Gulf Coast University. The Noles dropped the first game of the series earlier Wednesday as the game continued from the lightning delay Tuesday.

However, the Noles salvaged the second game of the series with a 2-1 score on a walk-off home run from Elijah Cabell.

The FSU pitchers shut down FGCU’s offense in the second game after getting beat around the ballpark in the continuation of game one.

Ross Dunn, Wyatt Crowell, and Chase Haney combined to allow seven hits and one earned run. The earned run was a home run by FGCU’s leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning.

They had nine strikeouts and two walks in the game.

The FSU offense managed six hits and three walks with only five strikeouts. Tyler Martin and Jackson Greene had two hits, and Martin drove in FSU’s other run in the bottom of the third inning.

The bottom of the ninth inning set the stage for Cabell’s home run. Cabell was the first batter of the inning and swung through a 2-0 pitch before depositing the 2-1 pitch over the right-centerfield fence.

It was a much-needed win for the Noles after losing the first game. FSU baseball projected as a regional host in the Field of 64 projections released Tuesday night, and a series loss against FGCU would have hurt those chances dramatically.

The one-game loss wasn’t ideal, but the Noles can overcome that loss with a good performance in conference play against Clemson over the weekend.

FSU baseball has to find some consistency after beating ranked teams as they have the propensity to lose games they shouldn’t coming off of big wins.

Clemson is fighting to make the Field of 64 and will come to Tallahassee hungry for a win. The Noles need to focus on winning that series and strongly finishing the regular season.

The first pitch against Clemson will be at 6 p.m. and will air on the ACC Network.