UNC baseball beat up by Seminoles in 7-1 loss

The Florida State Seminoles emphatically ended the North Carolina baseball team's five-game winning streak in the ACC tournament dating back to 2012 Wednesday with a 7-1 victory over the Tar Heels at NewBridge Bank Park.

"I think everybody sees tonight why Florida State is such a good team and had such a good year," coach Mike Fox said.

The Seminoles jumped out in front early and never relinquished their lead, because of a strong performance from starting pitcher Billy Strode.

"He just came right at us," first baseman Alex Raburn said. "They made plays behind him, and he found the zone and didn't walk a lot of guys."

Strode didn't allow a Tar Heel base runner until Landon Lassiter's single in the fourth inning. He allowed just four hits in six innings of scoreless work.

While the Tar Heels' bats remained silent, the Seminoles' bats came alive.

FSU took a big lead with a four-run fourth inning, capped with a two-run double by Danny De La Calle, putting them up 5-0.

The Seminoles were led by their captain, Justin Gonzalez, who hit a long home run in the sixth inning to extend the lead 6-1.

"I was just happy I was able to put a good swing on it," Gonzalez said. "I knew it was gone. I didn't know how far it went or anything like that."

Strode and the rest of the Seminoles pitching staff made it tough for the Tar Heels to score all game. The Seminoles forced the Tar Heels to ground into a double play in three consecutive innings to end scoring threats.

"The double plays were obviously huge for them and just didn't allow us to create any opportunity offensively," Fox said.

The Tar Heels' scoring woes weren't helped by the loss of shortstop Michael Russell in the fourth inning.

Russell aggravated a back injury that has plagued him over the past couple of weeks.

"Hopefully we'll get him back as soon as possible," Lassiter said.

After the game Fox said he was unsure whether Russell would return for the Friday's game against Virginia.

With or without Russell, the Tar Heels look to rebound from their performance against FSU and remain optimistic.

"I think we just need to maybe play a little better offensively," Raburn said. "I don't think we need to change anything. We just kind of need to string it together a little bit."

The Tar Heels lost two of the three games they played against Virginia this season.

"We've just got to go out and keep competing," Fox said. "This is what we practice for and go all year for is to get to this time of the year. This is the fun time of the year."

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.