The last time anyone saw Myles Bailey on a baseball field, he was being stretchered off Dick Howser Stadium on a cart, his right ankle shattered on a routine slide into second base against Duke. The silence that fell over Tallahassee that Saturday night was suffocating. One week later, Florida State walked into Charlottesville as the No. 7 team in the country, took on No. 10 Virginia without their best player, and came out of there with a series win.
FSU entered the series leading the ACC in league play. Bailey had been batting .363 with 13 home runs and 33 RBI before the injury. He was the heartbeat of this offense. Despite dropping game one, the Noles didn’t fold. They found a way to get a statement win for a team that people questioned after losing Bailey.
Game One: Wes Takes the Loss, UVA Holds On (L, 4-3)
Thursday night’s opener was a 4-3 loss, FSU’s second road loss of the season and first ACC defeat away from home. Virginia plated all four of its runs, highlighted by an Antonio Perrotta two-run home run, in a decisive fourth inning before riding four shutout frames from the bullpen.
Wes Mendes took the loss, falling to 6-2 on the season. Entering the start with a 1.33 ERA and coming off an ACC Pitcher of the Week honor after striking out 12 scoreless innings against Duke, Mendes was sharp enough to keep FSU competitive, but Virginia broke through before he could escape it.
Hunter Carns had a two-run single in the fifth for the Noles, and Noah Sheffield added an RBI, but FSU’s three-run answer came too late as the UVA bullpen trio of Henry Zatkowski, Lucas Hartman, and Tyler Kapa retired the final 13 Seminole batters in order.
It was a frustrating night. A quality start from one of the best pitchers in the country, a one-run game, and nothing to show for it. But if there was any silver lining, it was how Mendes competed without the security blanket of Bailey in the lineup. No Bailey, no easy answers for the offense, and FSU still had a chance in the ninth. That resilience would prove important.
Game Two: Beard and Abraham Deliver a Statement Win (W, 5-2)
Friday afternoon, the Noles came out with a different kind of edge. FSU took a 1-0 lead in the third inning and pushed it to 3-0 in the fifth. Virginia got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Florida State answered immediately with two more in the top of the sixth on Hunter Carns’ first home run of the season. Virginia scored one more in the sixth but couldn’t get closer.
Saturday starter Trey Beard and top reliever John Abraham combined to hold the Cavaliers to just two runs on seven hits with 13 strikeouts and six walks. In 5.0 innings, Beard earned the win to improve to 3-0, striking out seven while allowing two runs on four hits. Abraham relieved Beard in the sixth and pitched the final 4.0 innings, a career-best outing, to collect his team-leading fourth save of 2026.
The formula was simple, and it worked. Put up runs early, let the pitching hold it. Carns delivering that home run in the sixth was a big moment for the rising young catcher who delivered at exactly the right time. Beard has been excellent this season, and this was arguably his most important start of the year. John Abraham continues to impress. This was a big bounce-back win for the Noles to tie the series and force a rubber match in game three.
Game Three: Moore’s Gem Closes It Out (W, 9-3)
Sunday morning in Charlottesville, the Noles put it all together. This was the kind of game that makes you feel good about where this team is heading, even without its most dangerous bat in the lineup.
Bryson Moore was nothing short of excellent. The Virginia transfer toed the rubber against his former team and threw 7.0 dominant innings, allowing just 2 runs (0 earned) on 5 hits while striking out 7 and walking just 1. He threw 85 pitches, 61 for strikes. That’s a gem by any standard, but the story was what happened in front of him.
The Noles went body blow after body blow all morning. No three-run shots to swing the momentum in one swing. Just relentless, disciplined, manufactured baseball. Kelvyn Paulino Jr. walked and scored in the second. Brayden Dowd singled, stole second, and scored on Hunter Carns’ RBI double to right center in the third. Eli Putnam singled him home. The fifth featured another two-run inning with Carter McCulley singling through the right side to score Paulino from second, and then Chase Williams doubling to right center to score Cal Fisher. Virginia pitchers cycled through six arms and couldn’t stop the bleeding.
The big blow came in the seventh. Fisher walked, John Stuetzer laid down an infield bunt single, and McCulley doubled down the third base line to score Fisher. Williams grounded out to first but drove in Stuetzer. Then Noah Sheffield delivered a sacrifice fly to right that scored McCulley. Three runs on 2 hits, no errors, and zero wasted at-bats. That’s FSU’s roots. That’s Link Jarrett baseball.
Virginia made it interesting late. Kyle Johnson hit a 398-foot shot to deep center and Antonio Perrotta added a 382-footer in the eighth to cut it to 6-2. Brodie Purcell was charged with both. Joe Tiroly then led off the ninth with a solo shot to deep left off Gabe Nard. But FSU had built far too much of a lead for any of that to matter.
Final: FSU 9, Virginia 3.
Cal Fisher was the offensive catalyst, going 3-for-3 with a walk and a homer in Game Three. McCulley finished the finale with 2 hits, 2 RBI, and a key double. Williams doubled twice and drove in two. Paulino reached base three times and scored twice. Dowd added a stolen base to go with his run scored. Stuetzer had 2 hits and a stolen base in the finale. This was a distributed offense, not a one-man show. And that might be the most encouraging takeaway of the whole weekend.
Final Thoughts
Let’s be real about the weight of this series. Myles Bailey was the best power hitter on this team and possibly the entire country, and was being intentionally walked on a regular basis. He underwent surgery on his right ankle after being carted off in the eighth inning against Duke. His absence is not a footnote. It’s a season-altering blow.
And yet. The Noles flew into Charlottesville, faced a top-10 team at their place, absorbed a gut-punch in Game One, and then won two straight by manufacturing runs the old-fashioned way. Small ball. Stolen bases. Sacrifice bunts. RBI singles. Body blows. They didn’t wait for a three-run homer. They scratched, they clawed, they built leads, and then they let the pitching protect them.
That’s the blueprint going forward. Moore proved Sunday that he can be a genuine ace when the moment demands it. Beard proved on Friday the same thing. The offense, reconfigured without Bailey, found ways to produce anyway.
Looking Ahead
The schedule does not get any easier. FSU returns home Tuesday for a nationally televised rivalry game against Florida on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Then it’s back on the road to Atlanta, where Georgia Tech, boasting what has been called the best offense in modern college baseball history, is waiting with ACC championship implications on the line. Tuesday’s game at Howser is already sold out. Saturday’s series finale in Atlanta is already sold out. This is a big week of baseball for the Seminoles.
Georgia Tech is No. 3 nationally and was the reigning ACC regular-season champion heading into this year. A series win in Atlanta, on the heels of this one at Virginia, would be as big a statement as FSU could make in 2026. So far, they have clinched every ACC series this season. Can they keep up the momentum? Stay tuned to your source for fan-focused FSU coverage here at Plant The Spear. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!