Noles Beat Hurricanes 10-1, Martin Ties Wins Record

“This was an important game for us as we try to position ourselves for postseason play,” Martin said. “This is very encouraging for us as coaches. Any time you see that zero errors in that last column, you’re happy. We have to keep chopping wood.”

In his first appearance against the Hurricanes, Van Eyk (2-0) had the best start of his career, pitching 7.1 innings, allowing seven hits, a walk and just one earned run on an eighth-inning home run. His 10 strikeouts were a career high, three more than his seven in relief against UNC Asheville last month. It was the second consecutive game the FSU starting pitcher has hit double-digits strikeouts (Drew Parrish, 13 Friday night).

“CJ is a very poised young man, loves to compete,” Martin said of Van Eyk. “No way I expected him to go seven and change today. He did a very good job of keeping the ball down. That was an exceptional outing.”

On offense, Mendoza and Rafael Bournigal each had two of FSU’s nine hits. Mendoza had an RBI single in the fifth inning and a two-run home run in the seventh inning, his fifth of the season. Rhett Aplin added a two-run double in the eighth inning.

A pair of miscues in the first inning led to FSU’s first run. Mike Salvatore drew a four-pitch walk to start the game and moved to second on a passed ball. After Jackson Lueck grounded out to move Salvatore to third, Cal Raleigh grounded to first base, but Evan McKendry (5-6) misplayed the toss at first base and Salvatore. Thanks to four Miami errors in the game, six of FSU’s 10 runs were unearned.

FSU again manufactured a run in the third inning, culminating in Raleigh’s third RBI of the weekend. Lueck singled up the middle and moved to second on a failed pick off by McKendry. Aplin sacrificed Lueck to third and scored on Raleigh’s ground out to double the Seminole lead to 2-0.

Bournigal’s RBI double in the fourth inning scored Steven Wells, who reached on a walk.

Raleigh doubled off McKendry in the fifth and scored on Mendoza’s single up the middle for a 4-0 lead.

Florida State scored three more unearned runs in the seventh inning when second baseman Willy Escala dropped a pop up from Raleigh, allowing Salvatore to score. That was followed by Mendoza’s fifth home run of the season for a 7-0 lead.

The Hurricanes scored their first run of the weekend in the top of the eighth on a first-pitch home run from Raymond Gil. That was followed by a single and double before Van Eyk was replaced with one out by Clayton Kwiatkowski. Kwiatkowski forced two pop ups to avoid any further damage.

Lueck was hit with the bases loaded before Aplin’s two-run double provided the final margin in the bottom of the eighth.

Kwiatkowski closed out FSU’s win with a perfect ninth inning, capped by Mendoza’s diving grab at third base to end the game. Kwiatkowski retired all five batters he faced.

In the third inning, Jackson Lueck singled and moved to second on a failed pickoff by Miami pitcher Evan McKendry. Rhett Aplin sacrificed Lueck to third and scored on Cal Raleigh’s groundout to give FSU a 2-0 lead.

• Mike Salvatore scored twice Saturday and now has a team-high 36 on the season.
• Cal Raleigh tallied his team-high 36th RBI in the third inning. He hit his ninth double of the year in the fifth inning.
• CJ Van Eyk set a new career high with his eighth strikeout in the fifth inning. He finished Saturday with 10; his previous high of 7 came against UNC Asheville in his second appearance.
• FSU’s starting pitchers have struck out 10+ batters in back-to-back games (Drew Parrish had 13 Friday). Entering the weekend, only Andrew Karp (twice) had double-digit strikeouts this year.
• Rafael Bournigal’s double in the fourth inning was his fifth of the season. It was his second multi-hit game of the season.
• Drew Mendoza had a pair of extra-base hits Saturday, including his fifth home run of the season.
• Rhett Aplin’s two-run double in the eighth inning was his team-high 13th of the year.
• FSU’s one run allowed over the first two games against Miami are its fewest in a two-game span against the Hurricanes since 7-0 and 8-1 wins in 1993.
• FSU’s five-game ACC win streak is the longest in the regular season since 2016.

FSU’s win was head coach Mike Martin’s 1,975th of his career, tied with the late Augie Garrido for the most in college baseball history. He has beaten the University of Miami 99 times over his 39 years.

“For me to act like, ‘What’s the big deal?’ That’s hogwash. This program is built on togetherness; by the coaching staff, by the players. We have a great administration that gives us opportunities to be successful. We have our president here tonight. We have a family at Florida State. I’m so proud to be a Florida State Seminole. What has been accomplished is Florida State’s accomplishment – I just got an opportunity to work for this great university, and I’m surrounded by people who have done so much to keep this program moving upward.”

FSU and Miami will play the series finale Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. RHP Andrew Karp (7-3) will look to add to his ACC wins lead for the Seminoles. The game will stream on the ACC Network Extra with Shawn Davison (play-by-play) and Chip Baker (color).

Eric Luallen will call the game on the radio on 106.1 FM in Tallahassee and nationwide on the FSU Gameday App.