Florida State went back and forth with Notre Dame early in Game 3 on Sunday but the Seminoles were unable to keep pace as they dropped the rubber match and the series to Notre Dame in a 12-8 loss in South Bend.

It was death by home run for FSU (15-27, 6-18 ACC), as with every body-blow it landed on Notre Dame (25-17, 13-11 ACC), the Irish answered with a home run to level the playing field and flip the momentum. Notre Dame ended the game with four home runs against the Seminoles pitching staff.

The Irish opened up Game 3 with a solo home run in each of the first two innings - one by first baseman Carter Putz and the other by catcher Vinny Martinez.

Florida State was able to leapfrog Notre Dame with a four-run inning in the third that was capped off by DeAmez Ross' first home run as a Seminole. Colton Vincent also contributed an RBI single that scored Jordan Carrion.

Notre Dame responded with a three-run homer of their own in the fourth inning to retake the lead. After Jaime Ferrer was able to tie the game in the fifth for Florida State, Carter Putz hit his second home run of the afternoon to continue what would be a hellish few innings for Florida State's pitching staff.

The Irish scored 10 runs across the middle three innings to overtake and extend their lead to 12-5 by the end of the 6th inning.

It was not a good day for the Seminoles pitching staff across the board as starting pitcher Carson Montgomery struggled to find the plate in his outing but was kept around in the game due to the Seminoles' lead. Jamie Arnold came on in relief of Montgomery but the left hander did not fair much better, allowing Notre Dame to take the lead and leaving the bases loaded with no outs for Ben Barrett during Notre Dame's five-run rally in the 6th.

Brennen Oxford was able to find some stability in the later innings but it proved to be too late for the 'Noles.

The Seminoles were able to battle back to bring the score to 8-12 but the Fighting Irish's barrage in the middle innings proved to be too much to overcome as the Seminoles lost their 7th straight series.

It was a game that Florida State had enough offense to win, especially in comparison to the low scoring performances in the first two games, but the Seminoles could not escape the tumultuous middle inning breakdowns that continues to be one of their many Achilles heels.

Florida State travels to 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville on Tuesday for the traditional neutral-site meeting between the Seminoles and the No. 4 ranked Florida Gators at 6 p.m.