UNC baseball out of title race with loss to Florida State

As Tyler Ramirez jogged past first base, his eyes fixated on center field. 

As the ball soared through the air, Ramirez’s shot would either bring his team in striking distance or eliminate the North Carolina baseball team from the ACC Tournament title race. 

The ball found Florida State center fielder Ben DeLuzio’s glove nearly 400 feet from home plate, securing the 8-4 win for the Seminoles Thursday night. 

“I was certainly proud of our team for just competing to the last out,” Coach Mike Fox said. 

While the Tar Heels showed flashes down the stretch, the early lead that Florida State had built proved too much for the would-be comeback.

The Tar Heels could not keep the Seminoles off the board in each of the first three innings. In a flash, UNC was down 5-0. 

Defensively, Florida State hit the ground running against junior Trent Thornton. By the end of the third inning, Thornton had already thrown 72 pitches. 

Thornton did match a career-high 10 strikeouts in the game, but it took him some time to settle into the game. 

“It was one of those nights where it took a while for me to get in a groove and find my pitches,” Thornton said.

Thornton showed his ability, striking out the Seminoles’ leading batter D.J. Stewart twice. But down the stretch, he simply couldn’t deliver on a few crucial pitches. 

“It came down to making pitches in big situations,” Thornton said. “That I wasn’t able to do tonight.

“That was the difference in the game.”

Florida State’s pitching certainly contributed to the dominant performance as well.

Redshirt junior Mike Compton was flawless to start the game, carrying a no-hitter through three innings. Before a single UNC batter reached first base, Florida State was already up 5-0. 

Inconsistent offense has been the story for UNC in this ACC Tournament, as its biggest producers have struggled. Prolific batter Skye Bolt hadn’t recorded a hit since game two of UNC’s series with Virginia. 

The junior did find base in the sixth inning but finished the day 1-4. 

The Tar Heels came close in the sixth inning with two runs, making it a 5-2 game, but found themselves down six runs at the bottom of the eighth. 

Despite the large deficit, the Tar Heels still believed a comeback was possible.

“This game can turn very quickly,” Fox said. “If you don’t believe it, it’s not going to happen.”

Comebacks haven’t been UNC’s forte to say the least. The Tar Heels are 0-18 when trailing after seven innings of play. 

Fox said his team’s inability to mount comebacks certainly isn’t a point of pride this season, but he knows that his team can form a comeback, perhaps in a game more important than Thursday’s.

“Maybe we’ll be 1-18 at a time if we’re lucky enough to keep playing,” Fox said. “Maybe that one will be when we really really need it.”

The Tar Heels weren’t able to secure their first against Florida State, but the team looks to secure wins in the future without needing to come back at all.