FSU baseball: Noles win rubber match against Louisville to clinch series

FSU baseball (22-4, 5-4 ACC) won Saturday afternoon's rubber match against the Louisville Cardinals 9-4 to clinch the series win. This week was a great response after getting swept by Clemson last weekend. The Noles went 3-1, including a second win over the rival Florida Gators. FSU got the scoring started early in the first inning, with D'Amez Ross scoring on a groundout by Cam Smith. Louisville scored a run in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead, but James Tibbs hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to give FSU the 3-2 lead. However, Louisville answered with a run in the top of the fourth to tie it 3-3. Cal Fisher took advantage of his opportunity to play, launching a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to give FSU the lead for good. Jaime Ferrer and Marco Dinges had RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh, and D'Amez Ross had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the eighth.

Conner Whittaker earned his fourth win this season, going five innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs, one walk, and striking out two batters. The bullpen answered the call, featuring many of the guys who struggled against Clemson last week. Joe Charles, Brennan Oxford, Carson Dorsey, and Andrew Armstrong combined for four innings, one hit allowed, one walk, and four strikeouts. James Tibbs led all FSU hitters, going 4-4 with two RBI. Cam Smith went 2-5 with an RBI, and Jaime Ferrer and Cal Fisher went 2-4 with an RBI. D'Amez Ross returned to the starting lineup after missing several games with an injury to go 1-5 with the RBI. The Noles will have Easter off and will return to action Tuesday evening to host the Jacksonville Dolphins. The Noles have already defeated Jacksonville at their place earlier this season.