Wake Forest University
Florida State
Steel, Craig Homer, but No. 18 FSU Wins Series
3/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By Jay Garneau, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeBaseball)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - No. 18 Florida State clinched the series by defeating Wake Forest 9-6 in the series finale at Dick Howser Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Will Craig blasted his sixth homer of the season and Bruce Steel added his first career longball to lead the Demon Deacon (13-8, 3-3 ACC) offense.
The Seminoles (17-4, 5-1 ACC) made the most of nine walks and two hit batters, plating nine runs on nine hits.
Wake Forest started the game with three straight hits en route to a three-run first inning. Jonathan Pryor singled, Joey Rodriguez doubled and Nate Mondou singled, while Will Craig and Stuart Fairchild knocked in runs to cap off the inning.
Florida responded with a two-run double in the bottom of the first and scored three more in the second on a wild pitch and two-run single to take a 5-3 lead.
After the Seminoles added one more in the fourth, Steel homered over the tall right-field wall to cut the deficit to 6-4.
A walk and a hit by pitch led to an RBI double and two-run single for Florida State, as the Seminoles extended the lead to 9-4.
Rodriguez singled and came around to score on a two-run opposite-field homer by Craig, before a strikeout ended the game for FSU.
Rodriguez reached base in all five plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a double, walk, hit by pitch and two runs scored.
Craig, Pryor and Steel recorded two hits apiece for Wake Forest.
John McCarren and Parker Johnson tossed scoreless innings in relief for the Demon Deacons. Paul Kirkpatrick (2-1) took the loss, while Bryant Holtmann (3-1) picked up the win in relief for Florida State.
DJ Stewart finished 2-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs to lead Florida State's offense, and Danny De La Calle added two hits and RBIs.
