No. 19 Wake Forest Falls to No. 1 Florida State, 4-3
Noles sweep three-game ACC series.
April 4, 1999
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Chris Smith's bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of
the ninth inning lifted No. 1 ranked Florida State over 19th-ranked Wake
Forest, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
With the victory and three-game series sweep, Florida State improved its
record to 33-3 overall and 12-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Wake
Forest dropped to 19-10 overall and 6-5 in league action.
Chris Ginn (3-0) picked up the victory in relief for the Seminoles after
tossing a scoreless ninth inning. Wake Forest's David Bush (0-1) took the loss.
Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision although both pitched very
well in the game. Florida State's Blair Varnes allowed three runs, only one
of which was earned, in eight innings. He surrendered four hits and two
walks while recording four strikeouts. Wake Forest starter Eric Schmitt
allowed three runs on eight hits in eight innings of work while recording a
career-high 11 strikeouts.
Trailing 3-2 in the eighth inning, the Seminoles tied the score when Brett
Groves singled, stole second base and came around to score on a RBI single
from Marshall McDougall.
John Halliday led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and then took
third base on a double from Jeremiah Klosterman. The Demon Deacons elected
to intentionally walk Kevin Cash to lead the bases with no outs. After Bush
retired Sam Scott on a strikeout, Smith delivered his game-winning single to
score pinch runner Mike Futrell and give Florida State the 4-3 win.
The Demon Deacons scored first when they took a 3-0 lead in the top of the
second inning. After Ben Danosky reached on an error, Danny Borrell and
Andrew Riepe delivered back-to-back singles to load the bases. Corey Slavik
plated the first run of the inning when he was hit by a pitch and Stephen
Sullivan drove in the second run with a RBI single. Slavik scored the third
run of the inning on a throwing error.
The Seminoles cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning with a
pair of RBI singles from Matt Diaz and John Halliday. Diaz and McDougall
each went 2-for-4 in the game and McDougall extended his hitting streak to
27 games.
Wake Forest will return to action when the Demon Deacons visit Virginia
Tech on Tuesday at 3 p.m. Florida State will host Jacksonville on Wednesday
at 7 p.m.
FLORIDA STATE 4, WAKE FOREST 3
WFU 030 000 000 - 3 4 1
FSU 002 000 011 -- 4 10 3
Schmitt and Riepe. Varnes and Klosterman. 2B-Cash (FSU). W-Ginn (3-0).
L-Bush (0-1). T-2:24. A-1,679.
