OMAHA, Neb. — The Florida State Seminoles wanted another shot at No. 1 Tennessee, and the Seminoles are going to get it.
With a 9-5 victory Tuesday against North Carolina in a College World Series elimination game, the Seminoles will advance to face the Volunteers on Wednesday afternoon. The Tar Heels’ season is over.
On a day when the Seminoles’ star batters had a relatively quiet day, it was No. 9 hitter Jaxson West and leadoff batter Max Williams who did the bulk of the damage.
West went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs, while Williams went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
The two Alabama transfers actually hit their home runs back-to-back in the top of the ninth inning to extend the Seminoles’ lead to four runs.
Florida State’s starting pitcher, Andrew Armstrong, gave the Seminoles everything they could have asked for, despite battling through a nagging rib injury. The senior left-hander hadn’t pitched in a game since May 25, but he tied a season high by going 4 1/3 innings and had only given up one run entering the fifth.
Armstrong was pulled after giving up a single and a walk with one out, and Florida State opted to go with junior right-hander Conner Whittaker, who threw 71 pitches on Friday night. And Whittaker didn’t have his best stuff, giving up a three-run home run to UNC leadoff hitter Vance Honeycutt and then being pulled after allowing two more baserunners while recording just one out.
Junior lefty Connor Hults came in to end that threat, and he pitched the final 4 1/3 innings.
Florida State will face undefeated Tennessee on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET. The Seminoles will have to beat the Volunteers twice to advance to the CWS championship round, while the Volunteers need one more victory to move on.
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