As has been the case frequently during Florida State baseball's recent skid, the Seminoles just couldn't avoid allowing the big inning Friday night.
In the series opener at NC State Friday night, FSU saw an early 2-0 lead turn into a 7-2 deficit in a matter of minutes as the Wolfpack mashed its way to a seven-run third inning.
From there, NC State (22-11, 6-9 in ACC) coasted its way to a 14-3 win over the Seminoles (13-20, 3-10) at Doak Field in Raleigh, N.C. The loss is FSU's 14th in its last 15 games and 17th in the last 19 games.
Coming off a career outing last week vs. Clemson, FSU starting pitcher Jackson Baumeister got off to a strong start at NC State, facing the minimum number of batters through the first two innings on 20 pitches.
He was unable to escape the third inning, though. After allowing three runs and recording just one out in the third, Baumeister was pulled after issuing three straight walks to load the bases.
Carson Montgomery replaced Baumeister, recorded a strikeout for the second out and then allowed a backbreaking three-run double to NC State second baseman Payton Green that put the Seminoles in a 6-2 hole.
After throwing seven shutout innings last week, Baumeister allowed a season-high six earned runs while tying his season-low among his eight starts by lasting just 2.1 innings.
NC State added another run in the fifth inning and six more in the ninth to hand the Seminoles another lopsided loss, their sixth by eight-plus runs during their skid.
Homers not enough for Seminoles
All of FSU's run production in Friday's series opener came via the long ball.
Nander De Sedas staked FSU to a 2-0 lead in the second inning when he smashed a two-run homer to left field off NC State starter Dominic Fritton.
Jaime Ferrer, the only FSU player with multiple hits Friday, cut into the NC State lead on the first pitch of the sixth inning with a solo shot to left, his sixth home run of the season.
Aside from that, though, the Seminoles couldn't take advantage of the opportunities they created. They were 2 of 15 (.133) with runners on base and 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. By comparison, NC State was 10 for 21 (.476) with runners on base and 8 for 18 (.444) with RISP.
Fritton struck out a career-high 10 batters while throwing six complete innings for just the second time this season. The Seminoles struck out 15 times over their nine innings at the plate.
Up Next
Saturday's second game of the weekend series is set for a 7 p.m. start and will be broadcast on ACC Network. Connor Whittaker will start for FSU against a TBA starter for NC State.
