NC State falls 11-0 to Florida State in its second ACC tournament game

The ACC tournament schedule has been kind to NC State this year—before State played, it already knew it needed to beat Wake Forest to advance, and by the first pitch of Friday’s game, the Pack knew it would play Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Elliott Avent has played all of this accordingly. Getting blown out on Friday night by Florida State is disappointing, mind you, but the game was meaningless. If the Pack was going to win, it was going to do it with the back end of the bullpen, and with Patrick Bailey effectively getting a day off. Didn’t work out. Oh well.

Florida State, which is fighting for its NCAA tournament life, got a great start from C.J. Van Eyk, who pitched six innings of one-hit ball while fanning 11. He was fantastic and he got plenty of support from the Seminoles offense, which scored twice in the first, two more in the fourth, and buried the Wolfpack with six more over the fourth and fifth innings.

NC State started Alec Barger, and he didn’t last three innings. This was one of those we-need-you-to-eat-innings-and-you-have-to-wear-it games. No fun for anybody involved, and Michael Bienlien got the worst of it, throwing 60 pitches over three innings in which he gave up five runs.

The Wolfpack plays Georgia Tech at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday for a spot in the ACC title game.