Florida State took care of business at Dick Howser Stadium this weekend, sweeping Northern Kentucky in dominant fashion to push their winning streak to nine games and claim back-to-back series sweeps. The final scores tell the story: 7-3, 13-3, and 17-3. This team is finally starting to find itself after an up-and-down start.
Wes Mendes has a career day on Friday
The weekend opener on Friday set the tone in the best possible way. Wes Mendes was simply untouchable for most of the day. The right-hander punched out a career-high 12 batters across 5.1 innings, allowing just one hit and three unearned runs (two came on a throwing error). Things started to go off the rails for Medes late in his outing. He gave way to Chris Knier, who slammed the door with 3.2 hitless innings and four more strikeouts to close it out.
That combined 16-strikeout effort against NKU’s lineup was dominant stuff from two of FSU’s biggest arms. Mendes picked up his fourth win of the season and Knier his second save. The offense did its part too, getting contributions up and down the lineup. Will Bavaro had himself a night, going 2-for-3 with a double, a solo home run in the sixth, and two RBI. Noah Sheffield added a homer as well, and Hunter Carns knocked out four hits on the night (2 doubles).
Saturday’s Offensive Explosion
Saturday was when the bats really woke up. Trey Beard earned his first win of the season, going five strong while the offense put up a 13-spot. Myles Bailey went deep in the first for a two-run shot and drove in three total on the day. Sheffield was sensational, going 3-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run double in the seventh to put the game firmly out of reach. The most electric moment? In the second inning, Noah Sheffield stole home as part of a wild three-stolen-base sequence that had Dick Howser buzzing. Eli Putnam capped a massive fifth with a grand slam to center that blew the game open. FSU went 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Saturday, a noticeable improvement from Game 1’s 2-for-18 in that department. The Noles closed this out in seven innings.
10-Run First Propels FSU to an Early Finish
Sunday was more of the same, and then some. Bryson Moore dominated over five innings (seven strikeouts), but the real story was FSU’s first inning. Ten runs. Eight hits. Before NKU could blink, the Noles had built a lead that no one was climbing out of. Kelvyn Paulino Jr. drove in two early, and Bavaro continued his strong weekend with another multi-hit performance. The star of the finale, though, was Brayden Dowd, who went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI, raising his season total to three long balls. John Stuetzer also went deep and finished the series as one of the more consistent pieces at the top of the order across all three games. FSU ended this one in 7 for their second consecutive run-rule win of the weekend.
Final Thoughts
The offensive numbers across the weekend are finally the kind of production we’ve been waiting to see from this lineup. FSU outscored NKU 37-9 over the three games, collecting 36 hits while holding them to just 10 total. The Noles are now 13-2 on the season, and this program is playing with a confidence that comes at the perfect time because, make no mistake, the schedule stiffens considerably this week. After the disappointment we saw in Arlington, the last time FSU played a Power 4 team, this is a big confirmation week. FSU dominated Northern Kentucky, but they should have. Now, can you put together that same type of performance against better competition?
FSU heads to Gainesville on Tuesday to face No. 23 Florida in a midweek rivalry game before hitting the road again for a weekend series at No. 12 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Two ranked opponents, back to back. That’s the kind of test that will tell us a lot about how real this team is. The pieces are there. Nine wins in a row is not a fluke. But now the test is real.
Florida just lost a series to High Point… Yes, you read that right, but there is still talent there. That is a game FSU should win. This weekend will be tough, but the ACC schedule features five currently ranked opponents, so it’s a good barometer of the road ahead. The Noles just need to wipe the Arlington performance questions from our memory with a strong performance this week. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!