FSU baseball: California avoids series sweep with Sunday extra-inning win

FSU baseball (7-4, 0-0 ACC) took the series, but California avoided the sweep with a 5-3 extra-innings victory Sunday afternoon.

FSU’s starting pitcher Ross Dunn had his strongest outing of the season. Dunn pitched six innings of one-hit ball with 11 strikeouts and three walks The FSU bullpen faltered in the final four frames by allowing six hits, four walks, and three earned runs.

The Golden Bears held a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning before the Noles rallied to tie the game behind two hits, a couple of walks, an error, and a couple of wild pitches. California led off the top of the tenth with a double and a single to score the go-ahead run.

Those two at-bats were solid pieces of hitting by the Golden Bear batters, taking outside pitches the other way. California scored another run on a passed ball when Cole Vincent tried to backhand a pitch outside instead of getting in front of the ball. The FSU offense struggled with only six hits and two walks while striking out 15 times and leaving five runners on base.

FSU batters continue to not take advantage of hitter counts, while eventually striking out on balls outside of the strike zone. The defense looked shaky at times, with some questionable decisions at critical parts of the game.

FSU baseball was lucky they didn’t lose the series and waste three quality starts from the starting rotation. The offense has to become more consistent if they want to win the ACC and host a regional in post-season play.

FSU’s bullpen has to be better as well, with too many walks and getting behind in the count. Otherwise, it’s going to be another long season. They will return to action Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET as they host Florida Gulf Coast. The game will air on the ACCNX channel.