Mike Martin said Saturday’s game could have been perceived as meaningless. But it meant everything to Mike Compton.
Mike Compton struck out seven to pick up his 10th win of the season.
A day after Florida State clinched the top seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Compton had plenty to fight for. In his last start, he went just 1.1 innings at Clemson and suffered his first collegiate loss.
Compton turned in a strong performance, allowing just a two-run homer in six innings, and Josh Delph had a career-high three RBIs as Florida State closed out the regular season with a 6-2 win over N.C. State on Saturday afternoon.
FSU (43-12, 24-6) wrapped up one of the finest seasons in ACC baseball history. The 24 wins ties the 2006 Clemson team and 2008 FSU team for the all-time record.
And the Seminoles were able to put themselves in exclusive company on Saturday because of the pitching of Compton and Luke Weaver, who earned a three-inning save.
Compton (10-1) had seven strikeouts and gave up just a walk. He held N.C. State scoreless through five innings before Ryan Mathews hit a two-run homer in the sixth.
“It was definitely a confidence boost for me,” Compton said. “You definitely don’t want to be struggling going into the ACC Tournament. It was important to me.”
Weaver had five strikeouts over the final three innings to earn his first collegiate save.
FSU collected all the runs it needed early in the game off struggling N.C. State starter Anthony Tzamtzis (5-4), who gave up five walks in just 1.2 innings. The Seminoles built a 2-0 lead in the first on Stephen McGee’s bases-loaded walk and Delph’s sacrifice fly.
FSU's senior class was honored in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday afternoon.
Devon Travis had an RBI double in the second inning, giving him 20 doubles on the season.
The Seminoles added three runs in the fourth to pull away. Delph hit a two-run single down the left-field line and John Nogowski had an RBI groundout.
Delph, a freshman, had arguably his best day as a Seminole by going 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
“Josh has been a great story with the way he has matured,” Martin said. “The way he has adjusted. He still has a long way to go but I’m very proud of his accomplishments.”
FSU combined for 11 walks on the day, including three apiece by James Ramsey and Jayce Boyd.
The Seminoles’ win on Saturday gave means they won 13 of 14 weekend series this season. FSU also has never lost a home series to N.C. State, taking 11 in a row.
“As small as it might be to some people, those guys in that clubhouse don’t play a meaningless game,” Martin said. “They play baseball and they play it right. We went out there today and lets face it: what were we playing for? But they went out there and competed and got it done against a very good North Carolina State team.”
Up next for FSU is the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The top-seeded Seminoles will open against No. 8 seed Georgia Tech on Wednesday at a time to be determined. FSU’s pool also includes Clemson and Virginia.
Martin said that Scott Sitz will start on Wednesday against the Yellow Jackets. Brandon Leibrandt will start FSU’s second game, followed by Compton.
