⚾: Grady Shuts Down UNC to Clinch Series

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Junior right-hander Conor Grady retired his final 16 batters faced, allowing just three hits and striking out 10 over 7.0 innings, as Florida State (15-9, 10-8 ACC) secured an 8-0 win over North Carolina (14-12, 9-9) Sunday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium. Grady’s 10 strikeouts were a season high and his seven innings pitched matched a career high.

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Elijah Cabell hit his sixth home run of the season, and fifth in the past six games, in the first inning to give FSU a 4-0 lead.

North Carolina put a pair of baserunners on in the first inning on a pair of singles, but Grady forced two groundouts to escape unscathed. In the second, Tyler Causey singled off of Grady’s leg. North Carolina did not have another base runner until the ninth inning, when they got runners on the corners before a game-ending double play.

The Seminoles jumped on North Carolina starter Max Carlson (2-2) in the first inning Sunday, scoring four runs on a pair of hits. Tyler Martin, Mat Nelson and Reese Albert walked, with Martin scoring on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead. Cabell chased Carlson with a full-count, three-run home run over the Florida State bullpen in left field for a 4-0 lead.

Half of Cabell’s six home runs, and 10 of his 18 RBI, have come in the past week.

The Seminoles added a run in the second inning on a wild pitch from UNC reliever Davis Palermo. Nelson hit his fourth double of the season in the fourth inning that scored two more runs and Vince Smith’s fourth double of the year scored the final run of the game in the fifth inning.

Behind Grady, freshman Ross Dunn pitched a perfect eighth inning, with a pair of strikeouts, touching 96 on the radar gun. Jackson Nezuh forced a pop-up to the first batter in the ninth to extend FSU’s stretch to 20 consecutive batters retired between the second and ninth innings.

With runners on first and third, freshman Andrew Armstrong forced a double play to end the game.

The win was the second straight for FSU and locked up the Noles fourth ACC series win this season.

The Seminoles are back in action Tuesday vs. Jacksonville at Dick Howser Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. on ACC Network.

OF NOTE

• Sunday’s shutout was FSU’s third this season, all in ACC play. It is the second shutout that Grady has started, following a 12-0 series-sweeping victory at No. 6 Miami last month.
• Grady struck out 10 batters, his most in a start and second-most in his career. As a sophomore in 2019, Grady struck out 11 Clemson Tigers in 5.1 innings in relief.
• Tyler Martin drew a walk in the first inning, the 37^th time in 38 career starts he has reached base safely. Martin has reached base safely in a career-high 18 straight games.
• Elijah Cabell hit a three-run home run in the first inning. Cabell has hit a home run in five of his six games since being re-inserted in FSU’s starting lineup.
• Vince Smith was hit by a pitch in the second inning, the first of his career. He doubled in the fifth inning for the second straight game.
• Twenty-two Seminoles played Sunday after FSU made full-scale changes in the seventh and eighth innings. Dylan Simmons subbed at first base in the eighth inning and singled in the bottom of the inning.

For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, or keep up with the team on social media through Twitter (@FSUBaseball), Facebook (/FSUBaseball), and Instagram (@NoleBaseball).