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It's hard to imagine a much more varied way to sweep a doubleheader than the Florida State baseball team pulled off on Sunday.
Between a gem on the mound in a low-scoring Game 1 win and a ridiculously potent offensive explosion in Game 2, the No. 4 Seminoles (23-4, 7-2 in ACC) swept a road doubleheader over Notre Dame (14-11, 2-10) Sunday at Frank Eck Stadium to overcome Friday's loss and take the series.
It was a mutually beneficial day for the Seminoles as one pitcher picked up a struggling offense in Game 1 while the offense picked up a struggling pitching staff in Game 2.
With the sweep and series win, FSU has won its seventh straight weekend series to begin the 2025 season. The Seminoles also finished this seven-game road trip with a 5-2 record while capping off a 3-1 week in South Bend.
Game 1
After the pitching troubles in Friday's series opener and facing a doubleheader on Sunday, FSU badly needed a good start from Joey Volini in the opening game.
Early on, the opposite appeared to be happening. The first three batters of the ND first reached base against Volini on a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch, loading the bases with no outs.
Volini did hit another batter, but limited the damage from there, escaping the jam with only one run across. He also allowed a home run to Notre Dame freshman Jayce Lee in the second inning.
From there, though, Volini locked into form in a huge way, finding what had given him so much success through his first six starts. After four batters reached in the Notre Dame first, only four more reached the rest of the game as Volini threw his second consecutive seven-inning complete game in the 4-2 victory.
After FSU had not had a complete game on the mound since 2018 entering last week at Miami, Volini has now done it in back-to-back weeks.
The junior lefty racked up 11 more strikeouts (bringing his season total to 63 in 43.1 innings) and faced just one batter over the minimum over his final five innings. He led the Irish hitless in eight at-bats with runners on base and in three at-bats with runners in scoring position, allowing two runs on four hits.
It's a good thing for the Seminoles that Volini settled in so effectively and quickly after his rocky start as the first game of the doubleheader wasn't the best for the FSU bats.
The Seminoles managed just three hits in the win and were limited to just one hit, a game-tying, fourth-inning double by Brody DeLamielleure, through six innings in Game 1.
As the offense struggled to kick into gear, the Seminoles scored in non-traditional ways. Myles Bailey scored a tying run in the second inning on a wild pitch and FSU small-balled its way to the go-ahead run on the fourth which was brought home on an RBI groundout from Gage Harrelson.
Harrelson added an insurance run in the seventh on a solo homer to right field, his third of the season.
FSU finished Game 1 1 for 13 (.077) with runners on base and hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position. But it managed to do enough at the plate to support Volini's stellar start on the mound and come away with a win.
Game 2
Maybe FSU was just saving most of its runs in Game 1 for the second game of the doubleheader on Sunday.
Because the Seminoles wasted no time taking total command with an eruption of runs at the plate in the rubber match of the series.
FSU led 2-0 three batters into the game on Max Williams' 12th home run of the season. They finished with five runs on as many hits in the first inning, surpassing their totals from the entire first game on Sunday in one inning.
The Seminoles then added seven more runs in the second inning -- six of those with two outs -- and two more in the third to stake themselves to an early 14-0 lead.
That proved to be more than enough to coast to a series-clinching 17-9 win over the Irish behind
Making his first career start, redshirt freshman James Hankerson Jr. reached in each of his first three trips to the plate in the series finale. He had a two-run single in the first, a three-run double in the second and his first career home run in the fourth inning. He had the first six RBI of his FSU career in the win and finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle.
After his 25-game on-base streak was snapped in Sunday's first game, FSU shortstop Alex Lodise had three hits in the second game of the doubleheader. After singling in the first, he homered in the second and again in the ninth, giving him four home runs in as many games this week and 11 on the season. He leaves the Notre Dame series with a .466 batting average.
By the fourth inning, all nine members of the starting lineup had a hit. The Seminoles had 14 runs on 14 hits in their first four innings at the plate.
Considering the combined pitching performance in the rubber match, it's a good thing the offense gave the staff such a humongous cushion to work with.
Starting pitcher Wes Mendes lasted just 3.2 innings but threw 95 pitches, walking six batters while allowing three runs on four hits. After Mendes had just three total walks in his first five starts, he's walked 10 batters in his last two starts.
The bullpen, tasked with protecting a large lead over 5.1 innings, struggled similarly to how they did on Friday. Joe Charles walked two over 1.1 innings. Peyton Prescott was tagged for three runs on five hits over one inning.
John Abraham allowed one unearned run over 0.2 innings before he was ejected from the game by the umpires. Chris Knier finally provided some stability out of the bullpen, getting out of the seventh and throwing a scoreless eighth. However, even he couldn't finish the game as FSU had to bring in Payton Manca, who recorded the final two outs on strikeouts and finally ended the game.
Overall, FSU's pitching staff had more walks issued (10) than strikeouts (8) in the final game of the series.
It was a weekend to forget for the FSU bullpen, which allowed 18 earned runs over 8.2 innings in the two games a reliever was used.
Up Next
After finishing up this seven-game road trip, FSU finally heads home for a week of games all at Dick Howser Stadium.
The Seminoles host Jacksonville Tuesday at 6 before hosting No. 16 Wake Forest for a weekend series that begins Friday at 8 p.m.
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