Florida State scored three runs in the tenth inning, keyed by Drew Mendoza’s go ahead RBI double, to give the Seminoles (43-17) an 11-8 win over Louisville (43-17) in the ACC Tournament finals.
The loss by Louisville likely eliminates the 25th ranked Cardinals from potentially hosting a regional site in this week’s upcoming NCAA Tournament. It also leaves Louisville without a conference tournament championship since 2009, but it was their first appearance in the ACC finals since joining the conference in 2014.
FSU jumped ahead early with a two-RBI double from Cal Raleigh. Louisville couldn’t match FSU’s pace in the first inning, but did add a run from Logan Wyatt’s RBI groundout in the second.
FSU continued their early assault in the third with three runs in the inning. The Seminoles scored unearned runs on an RBI single from Drew Mendoza, followed by a wild pitch. Reese Albert added a two-out RBI single to close the top third with a 5-1 lead.
In response, the Cardinals had a stellar power hitting display in the mid stretch of the game. Devin Mann hit a two-run homer in the bottom third inning, with Josh Stowers (solo) and Zach Britton (three-RBI) also driving balls out of the park in the fourth to give Louisville a 7-5 lead. They also had an RBI single in the fifth inning from Logan Wyatt to push the lead to 8-5.
FSU tied the game afterwards with a run in the sixth inning, followed by two in the seventh. Mike Salvatore drilled an RBI double down the right-field line in the sixth, and Rafael Bourginal added an RBI single in the seventh. Bourginal later scored the tying run in the same inning via throwing error from Reid Detmers.
Louisville had opportunities late in the game to go-ahead. The Cardinals had Jake Snider and Devin Mann on-base in the ninth for the winning runs, but a flyout to right field from Logan Wyatt thwarted the opportunity to end it in extra innings.
Florida State would capitalize with a double from Drew Mendoza in the tenth inning, putting the Seminoles ahead for good. FSU added another run on an RBI groundout from Reese Albert before the tenth inning closed.
At the plate, Devin Mann, Logan Wyatt and Danny Oriente all had multihit games. Mann led the team with a 3-for-5 performance, while Zach Britton led the team with three RBIs on his homer in the fourth inning.
Florida State had four hitters with multi-hit performances: Rafael Bourginal (2-for-5), Drew Mendoza (3-for-4), Rhett Aplin (2-for-4), and Mike Salvatore (2-for-5). Mendoza also led the team with three RBIs, including two on his game winning hit in the tenth. Cal Raleigh and Bourginal also chipped in with two RBIs each.
The Cardinals await their NCAA Tournament destination tomorrow, with the selection show at noon on ESPNU.
