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Florida State

No. 4 Tar Heels strike first, knock off No. 2 FSU in series opener

On3 imageby: Corey Clark05/16/25Corey_Clark
On3 image
Florida State pitcher Jamie Arnold delivers Thursday night against UNC. (Courtesy of FSU Sports Information)

It was a matchup of not only the two best pitchers in the ACC but two of the best in the country. And it was North Carolina’s Jake Knapp who shined brightest on Thursday night at Dick Howser Stadium.

The graduate senior, who missed all of last season with an injury, pitched a complete game, allowing three runs and four hits while striking out seven and walking none. He led the No. 4 Tar Heels to a critical 8-3 win over the No. 2 Seminoles in a Top 5 showdown on Thursday night.

Florida State’s Jamie Arnold only lasted five innings and was let down a bit by his own defense in the fifth, as he allowed four earned runs on five hits while striking out eight. The difference was Arnold walked two and hit two batters, while Knapp didn’t issue a free pass all night against the Seminoles, who trailed from the second inning on in the series-opening loss.

“Knapp pitched a beautiful game,” FSU head coach Link Jarrett said. “And we knew exactly what we were facing and that fastball is tricky. There seemed to be two different fastballs in play. I think the delivery deception is also a factor … it’s well done.”

North Carolina took the lead for good with a leadoff homer from Gavin Gallaher in the second. The Tar Heels then essentially blew the game open in the top of the fifth. A routine ground ball to Myles Bailey turned into an infield hit when the FSU first baseman couldn’t reach the base after Arnold wasn’t quick enough getting over.

Kane Kepley was then hit with a pitch to put runners on first and second with nobody out, setting the stage for the arguably the biggest hit of the game — a two-run triple to left-center by UNC’s Jackson Van De Brake.

Van De Brake then scored two batters later on a shallow sacrifice fly to right in which Gage Harrelson’s throw home was wide.

FSU got one run back in the bottom of the inning when Chase Williams drove in Cal Fisher, who had doubled to lead off the inning, with a sac fly to center. But the Tar Heels really blew the game open in the sixth.

Reliever Maison Martinez was charged with three earned runs — despite a great catch by Chase Williams down the left-field line — and Chris Knier gave up a home run to Van De Brake to make the score 8-1.

“We stacked our mistakes into two innings,” Jarrett said. “You have a hit by pitch and a walk, then you don’t cover (first). More of that. And then the extra-base hit and the home run … it stacked. And it really was a two-inning stack that they created and we helped. And good teams will find ways to deliver.

“And they did.”

Florida State All-America candidate Alex Lodise hit his 17th homer of the year, a two-run moon shot to left-center field that barely cleared the fence, to cut the lead to 8-3. But that’s as close as the Seminoles would get against Knapp, who is now 11-0 on the season.

The veteran righty threw 115 pitches in the complete-game win to likely lock up the ACC Pitcher of the Year award. He retired the side in the ninth on just five pitches.

Florida State is now 36-12 on the season and 16-9 in the ACC. North Carolina improves to 38-11 and 17-10.

The teams will play Game 2 of the series on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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