Seminoles Advance to ACC Semifinals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Behind five RBI from ACC Player of the Year James Tibbs III and another strong appearance by Jamie Arnold, Florida State (41-14) beat Virginia (41-15) Friday at Truist Field to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Championship.

Tibbs hit a solo home run, had a two-run single, drew a bases loaded walk and hit a sacrifice fly to bump his RBI total to a league-best 84. His home run provided the final margin in the contest and was his 25^th of the season, also tops in the ACC.

Arnold improved to 10-3, allowing two runs over 6.0 innings with nine strikeouts. For the season, Arnold has 134 strikeouts and just 20 walks.

FSU pounded out 16 hits, including seven in the seven-run seventh inning. FSU scored six runs with two outs to extend the score to 11-2.

Virginia responded against the FSU bullpen with three home runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Brennen Oxford settled in and pitched 3.0 innings for his team-high fifth save of the year.

Middle infielders Drew Faurot and Alex Lodise led FSU with three hits each, while six Noles had at least two hits. Cam Smith doubled and continues to hit over .400 for the season.

SCORING SUMMARY:
B3 | FSU 0, UVA 1              Whalen doubled, O'Ferrall scored
T4 | FSU 2, UVA 1              Tibbs singled, M. Williams and Smith scored
T5 | FSU 3, UVA 1              M. Williams grounded out, Cantu scored
T5 | FSU 4, UVA 1              Tibbs walked, Lodise scored
B6 | FSU 4, UVA 2              O'Ferrall home run
T7 | FSU 5, UVA 2              Tibbs sacrifice fly, Faurot scored
T7 | FSU 6, UVA 2              Dinges singled, J. Williams scored
T7 | FSU 7, UVA 2               Ferrer singled, Smith scored
T7 | FSU 9, UVA 2              Cantu tripled, Dinges and Ferrer scored
T7 | FSU 10, UVA 2            Lodise doubled, Cantu scored
T7 | FSU 11, UVA 2             Faurot singled, Lodise scored
B7 | FSU 11, UVA 4            Anderson home run, Didawick scored
B7 | FSU 11, UVA 6            Hanson home run, Godbout scored
B7 | FSU 11, UVA 7            Saucke home run
T8 | FSU 12, UVA 7             Tibbs home run (25^th, 373 ft)

OF NOTE:

Florida State scored 12 runs for the second consecutive ACC Tournament game. The last time FSU did that was 1998, when the Noles scored 14, 13 and 13.
FSU's 41 wins are the Seminoles most entering the NCAA Tournament since 2015, when FSU was 41-19.
ACC Player of the Year James Tibbs III was 2-for-3 with his 25^th home run and five RBI. Tibbs leads the ACC in home runs and RBI (84).
Tibbs' 25 home runs are tied with Jeremy Morris (1997) for ninth in a season at FSU; his 52 career home runs are tied with Mike McGee (2008-11) for fifth in program history.
Tibbs leads Florida State with 24 multi-RBI games and has a 13-game on-base streak.
Cam Smith (double) and Daniel Cantu (2-for-5, triple) extended their hitting streaks to eight games. Cantu's triple was his first as a Seminole and fourth of his career.
Smith leads FSU with 20 doubles and is hitting .401, best on the team. He was walked twice, including his first intentional walk of the year.
Jamie Arnold improved to 10-3 after 6.0 innings, 9 strikeouts and 2 earned runs. For the year, Arnold has a 134-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Alex Lodise and Drew Faurot both had three-hit games for the Noles. Lodise has reached safely in 12 consecutive games, matching a career high.
Jordan Williams improved to 3-for-7 as a pinch hitter, singling in the seventh inning. Williams has three of FSU's nine pinch-hits this season, most on the team.
Brennen Oxford earned his fifth save of the season, a team high. FSU's 18 saves are most in the ACC.
FSU has 104 home runs this season (55 games); last year, FSU hit 55 home runs in 54 games. The Noles 49-home run improvement is the fourth-best in the country.
The Seminoles have a home run in 29 of the past 30 games and 50 of 55 games this season.

UP NEXT:
Florida State advances to the ACC Championship semifinals and will play either 1-seed North Carolina or 8-seed Wake Forest Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The game will air on ACC Network.

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

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Team Stats

Alex Lodise

Drew Faurot

James Tibbs III

Marco Dinges

Players Mentioned

Jamie Arnold

Daniel Cantu

Drew Faurot

Alex Lodise

Brennen Oxford

Cam Smith

James Tibbs III

Jordan Williams

Florida State University Athletics