The pitching staff is for real. One night after Wes Mendes threw a masterpiece to open ACC play, Trey Beard stepped on the mound Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem and delivered a performance that had to make every FSU fan feel great about this rotation’s ceiling. The Noles knocked off No. 12 Wake Forest 2-0, clinching the series and moving to 2-0 in conference play with a dominant nine-inning pitching exhibition that left little doubt about what this staff is capable of.
Beard, the top-ranked transfer who came to Tallahassee with big expectations, lived up to all of them Saturday. He went 6.2 innings, allowing just one hit and zero runs while striking out 14 Demon Deacons on only 90 pitches. Fourteen strikeouts. A career high. Against a Wake Forest lineup that entered the weekend at 15-3. He only gave up one free pass and was able to work himself out of a jam late in his outing.
Beard looked good against Northern Kentucky, but that was Northern Kentucky. Putting on this kind of performance against a top 15 ball club at their place is as good an outing as fans in garnet and gold could have hoped for, and one that should help build his confidence down the stretch.
John Abraham came on in relief and slammed the door the rest of the way, striking out two more and earning his second save of the season. When it was all over, FSU held Wake Forest to a single hit across nine scoreless innings. Put that in perspective for a second: over 16 innings against a ranked opponent to open conference play, the Noles have racked up 27 strikeouts. Absolutely dominant stuff.
A Pitchers’ Duel From the Jump
Wake starter Chris Levonas was no slouch, and it showed. The Noles managed just four hits on the afternoon and struck out 16 times of their own. Make no mistake, Levonas kept FSU uncomfortable for most of the afternoon, and the offense never really got going the way it did Friday night.
Yes, the offense struggled again, but that’s the nature of a true pitchers’ duel, and credit where it’s due to the Demon Deacons’ starter. Levonas came into the contest with a 1.83 ERA, allowing just 10 hits in 19.2 innings. He is one of the better arms FSU will face.
The Moments That Mattered
For four innings it was a scoreless affair, both starters dealing and neither lineup finding much of anything. The Noles broke through in the fifth when Nathan Cmeyla launched a solo shot to deep right field. That’s two home runs in this series for the catcher who entered the weekend without one on the season. Timing is everything.
FSU had chances to break it open but couldn’t cash in, going 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position on the afternoon. The RISP struggles were again a real thing, but against a pitcher as good as Levonas was on Saturday, you live with it when your own guy is setting down hitters in bunches.
The Noles added an insurance run in the ninth that proved valuable for peace of mind. Brayden Dowd was hit by a pitch, promptly stole second, and scored on an Eli Putnam single up the middle. Putnam then stole second himself, Wake challenged the call and lost, and FSU went into the final frame with a two-run cushion. Abraham shut the door in short order.
Beard Was the Story
Let’s come back to what Trey Beard did on Saturday, because it deserves more than a passing mention. When FSU went out and landed a pitcher of his caliber in the transfer portal, this is exactly the kind of outing fans were envisioning. Filthy stuff, commanding the zone, piling up strikeouts against a legitimate lineup. He now sits at 2-0 on the season, and if he can replicate this level of performance through ACC play, opposing offenses have a very long spring ahead of them.
Interestingly enough, the one real threat Wake Forest mounted came in the sixth when JD Stein doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Beard buckled down and got the next two hitters without allowing the run. That’s the mark of a pitcher who competes under pressure because he has experience under his belt.
FSU had big shoes to fill with the departures of Jamie Arnold and Joey Volini. So far, Wes Mendes has performed admirably, and now that Beard is healthy, he and Mendes appear to be a lethal 1-2 punch for the Noles. When these two are on and going long innings with a guy like Johnny Abraham coming out of the pen, that will put FSU in a position to win a lot of games.
The Bigger Picture
FSU came into this weekend needing a response after dropping a midweek game to Florida and falling to 1-3 vs Power 4 competition. Two shutouts later, the Noles head into Sunday with a chance to sweep No. 12 Wake Forest on the road to open conference play. That is not a small thing. This program has real aspirations this season, and back-to-back dominant pitching performances against a quality opponent is exactly the kind of foundation you want to build on.
The offense will need to be more consistent as the schedule gets deeper, and the strikeout numbers (16 in the series clincher alone) are something to watch. But when your pitching staff is posting these kinds of results, you can afford to be patient with the bats.
Game three is tomorrow at 3 p.m. on ACC Network, with the Noles chasing the sweep. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!