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After knocking off Virginia in a solid 7-3 win, the Noles took on another ACC foe in North Carolina. They staved off elimination once again with a 9-5 win that saw the Florida State bats do what they have done all season, and that’s score.

The Seminole had 14 hits in the game to the Tar Heels ten. Catcher Jackson West surprised everyone when he led the game in hits against UNC. He had four knocks, two RBI’s and a homer in the ninth. The Noles blasted back-to-back jacks in the ninth, two balls that were destroyed by West and Max Williams, to put the dagger in UNC.

The Noles pitching staff wasn’t phenomenal in the game, only combining for three strikeouts while committing five errors. Thankfully, the defense was sharp and, despite allowing ten hits, the Tar Heels only score five runs.

A win over North Carolina brought the Noles face to face with the only team that had beaten them in post-season play. The Tennessee Volunteers. The Seminoles were hoping to get revenge on a Vols team that many claim only won the first game because of a missed call on a checked swing. Unfortunately, the Noles had some terrible luck on Wednesday.

It wasn’t that Florida State played poorly or that Tennessee played exceptionally well. It simply came down to the Noles bats. There was plenty of hard contact and lots of balls put in play by the FSU lineup, but they just couldn’t break through. Line drives that normally go for base hits were snuffed out by the Vols infield. Bobbled grounders still found their way to first for the out. Even when the Vols over through the first baseman they were still able to throw the runner out at second. Every thing worked for Tennessee and nothing worked for Florida State.

Max Williams had the worst luck of the bunch. He blasted two balls deep, one that went over 400 feet and another that went 350. Normally that ball is gone and William is rounding the bases with the Noles inching closer to a comeback. But both deep flies were caught at the wall by the Vols outfield who seemed to be everywhere on Wednesday in Omaha.

The Noles were able to punch a hole in the Tennessee defense in the bottom of the seventh when Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise went yard back-to-back. But it wasn’t enough as Tennessee ended the Noles season in a 7-2 loss.

Florida State has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. They made it to Omaha, knocked off some very good teams and achieved the biggest turnaround in college baseball history. Last year the Noles ended 23-31 and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament ending the Noles streak of 44 consecutive post-season appearances. Many of them said it was hard to look fans and alumni in the eye. But, they came back with second year head coach Link Jerrett and restored Florida State baseball to its rightful place among the best programs in the country. Florida State won 49 games this year and made it to the semi-finals of the CWS, only losing to the number one ranked team in the country. They might not have brought home that elusive national title, but Link Jerrett and the Seminoles baseball program have a very bright future ahead of them. One that surely involves a College World Series championship.

By William Huff-Thomasville Times Enterprise