Seminoles open ACC tourney with win

SALEM, VIRGINIA - Stephen Drew lined an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a two-run rally and lifting Florida State past North Carolina State 6-5 in the ACC tournament first round.<br> <br> The Seminoles (38-19) trailed 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, but got a leadoff double from Matt Sauls against closer Joey Devine, a wild pitch that moved him to third and a game-tying, one-out triple from Shane Robinson off the left field wall. After Devine (0-3) struck out Bryan Zech, Drew lined a two-strike pitch up the middle to win it.<br> <br> Drew also hit a two-run homer.<br> <br> The game started at 11:02 p.m. Wednesday after an earlier rain delay of 2 hours, 43 minutes. It ended at 1:36 a.m. with about 100 fans still in the stands and a 1:30 p.m. start Thursday looming for the loser.<br> <br> Until the very end, the Seminoles seemed likely to be that team.<br> <br> Dustin Knight hit a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth, Wolfpack starter Michael Rogers got stronger as the hour got later and North Carolina State was three outs from winning when Devine came on to start the ninth.<br> <br> Rogers, who shut out the Seminoles for eight innings on April 2 in an 11-0 Wolfpack victory, fell behind 4-1 after five innings, then allowed only one hit over his last three innings. He retired the last nine batters he faced, five of them on strikeouts, but also threw 108 pitches.<br> <br> Florida State advanced to a winners&#39; bracket game against Duke, a surprise winner against Virginia. The Wolfpack will play the Cavaliers, with the loser going home from the double-elimination format.<br> <br> Early on, Rhett James and the Seminoles seemed to be in control.<br> <br> Drew hit a tailing, wind-blown home run in a three-run fifth to give Florida State a 4-1 lead. Aaron Chapman started the rally with a triple and Robinson doubled off third baseman Eric Taylor&#39;s chest to score Chapman. Drew homered after a double play and a hit batsman.<br> <br> The Wolfpack had tied the game at 1-all in the fourth on Taylor&#39;s single. Chapman&#39;s single in the second scored the Seminoles first run.

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