{"id":197858,"date":"2026-03-19T15:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197858\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:05:09","slug":"howser-hosts-top-11-matchup-as-no-11-fsu-faces-no-10-nc-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197858\/","title":{"rendered":"Howser Hosts Top-11 Matchup as No. 11 FSU Faces No. 10 NC State"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 The No. 11 Florida State baseball team hosts No. 10 NC State in the team’s ACC home opener from March 20-22 at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
\n\u00a0
\nThe series begins on Friday, March 20, at 6 p.m. ET, followed by game two on Saturday at 2 p.m. The finale is on Sunday at 1 p.m.
\n\u00a0
\nTickets are available at Seminoles.com\/Tickets<\/a> or by calling the FSU ticket office at 850-644-1830. Admission is free for all FSU students with their FSUID, with the student entrance at the right field gate at Haggard Plaza. All gates at Dick Howser Stadium will open 60 minutes prior to first pitch for every game in 2026.
\n\u00a0
\nFriday is the ACC Home Opener Presented by Truist. There will be a trading card giveaway, courtesy of Truist, for early-arriving fans while supplies last. Each regular-season Saturday home game is Military Saturday Presented by VyStar, with military recognitions and the playing of God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch. Members of the 1986 College World Series team will be recognized on the field pregame. Every Sunday regular-season home game is Sunday Funday, where Kids Club members and youth wearing their little league jerseys will be admitted free, and kids 12 and under will be allowed to run the bases postgame.
\n\u00a0
\nAll three games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra<\/a> (Friday<\/a> | Saturday<\/a> | Sunday<\/a>), accessible through your television provider or a subscription to ESPN+. Fans can listen to every game via the Seminole Sports Network on WFLA 100.7 FM. Each game also is available around the world on the Seminoles Unconquered App<\/a> and Seminoles.com<\/a>. Live stats are at FSU.Statbroadcast.com<\/a> (Friday<\/a> | Saturday<\/a> | Sunday<\/a>). Direct links to watch, listen and follow along can be found on the schedule page at Seminoles.com\/Baseball<\/a>. News, notes and behind-the-scenes updates all weekend are available by following and connecting with the team on social media on Twitter\/X<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> (@FSUBaseball) and Instagram<\/a> (@NoleBaseball).
\n\u00a0
\nFriday, March 20 \u2013 6 p.m. ET
\nTickets<\/a>
\nWatch: ACC Network Extra<\/a>
\nListen: WFLA 100.7 FM | Seminoles Unconquered App<\/a> | Seminoles.com<\/a>
\nLive Stats<\/a>
\n\u00a0
\nSaturday, March 21 \u2013 2 p.m. ET
\nTickets<\/a>
\nWatch: ACC Network Extra<\/a>
\nListen: WFLA 100.7 FM | Seminoles Unconquered App<\/a> | Seminoles.com<\/a>
\nLive Stats<\/a>
\n\u00a0
\nSunday, March 22 \u2013 1 p.m. ET
\nTickets<\/a>
\nWatch: ACC Network Extra<\/a>
\nListen: WFLA 100.7 FM | Seminoles Unconquered App<\/a> | Seminoles.com<\/a>
\nLive Stats<\/a>
\n\u00a0
\nStarting pitchers for the series have not been announced.
\n\u00a0
\nThe matchup is the highest-ranked series between two top-25 teams in the ACC this weekend and the second-highest nationally. FSU enters the weekend with a 3-0 record and NC State is just behind by one game, at 2-1.
\n\u00a0
\nFSU is 17-3 on the season, 3-0 in the ACC, 12-0 at home, 4-1 on the road, 1-2 at a neutral site and 3-2 against ranked opponents. The Seminoles are coming off a series sweep at No. 12 Wake Forest to begin conference play last weekend before throwing a combined no-hitter in a run-rule win over Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday. This weekend’s ACC series is part of a stretch where the team will play seven of eight games at home and nine consecutively in the state of Florida.
\n\u00a0
\nAs a team, Florida State is hitting .300 with 195 hits, 29 home runs, 43 doubles, two triples, 112 walks, 175 runs scored and 150 RBI. The pitching staff has a 3.47 ERA with 64 earned runs allowed on 111 hits with 222 strikeouts and 74 walks in 166.0 innings.
\n\u00a0
\nFreshman designated hitter Kelvyn Paulino Jr.<\/a> leads the team with a .415 batting average and sophomore first baseman Myles Bailey<\/a> has 22 hits, nine home runs, 25 RBI, 24 walks and 23 runs scored. Sophomore infielder\/outfielder Noah Sheffield<\/a> has seven doubles, while junior center fielder Chase Williams<\/a> has five stolen bases in seven attempts. On the mound, junior lefty Wes Mendes<\/a> is 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA, having struck out 41 and given up two earned runs on 11 hits in 28.2 innings. Junior right-hander John Abraham<\/a> has made eight appearances, all but one out of the bullpen, and has 24 strikeouts and a 0.50 ERA in 18.0 innings.
\n\u00a0
\nA WEEK FULL OF AWARDS
\nJunior left-handed starters Trey Beard<\/a> and Wes Mendes<\/a> both earned numerous national weekly awards following dominant outings last weekend in FSU’s sweep at No. 12 Wake Forest. Beard was named the Golden Spikes x D1Baseball Player of the Week, the National Pitcher of the Week by the NCBWA and the College Baseball Foundation and the ACC Pitcher of the Week. Beard and Mendes shared Perfect Game’s National Pitcher of the Week accolades and the duo were both recognized on Baseball America’s Team of the Week.
\n\u00a0
\nOn March 14 in a 2-0 win at Wake Forest, Beard struck out a career-high 14 batters in a season-long 6.2 one-hit innings. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed two baserunners in his third start of the year. Beard’s 14 strikeouts are a career best by two, and matches his total punch-outs on the season in 7.1 innings coming into the day. He allowed just one hit with a walk. While no-hitting Wake for 5.1 innings, the lefty did not allow a baserunner until two outs in the third. The one-out double in the sixth was followed by a wild pitch, but Beard stranded the runner at third with a strikeout and an inning-ending groundout that he fielded himself.
\n\u00a0
\nA day earlier in a 10-0, seven-inning win, Mendes threw a complete-game two-hit shutout. In one of the best starts of his career, he notched 11 strikeouts with two walks. The 7.0 innings and 11 strikeouts are both tied for the second-best of his career. For the first time, Mendes did not allow a run in more than 5.1 innings pitched, and he also threw a complete game for the first time. He allowed four baserunners to reach all night with only one advancing to second base, retiring 10 in a row with a stretch that included six consecutive strikeouts.
\n\u00a0
\nFSU’s duo helped the Seminoles sweep their ACC road opener for the first time since 2012. Florida State posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2013 and consecutive shutouts in ACC action for the first time since 2000. 1991 was the last time the team posted two shutouts in a row away from home.
\n\u00a0
\nNATIONALLY RANKED SEMINOLES
\nFlorida State moved up in each major poll this week, including to No. 11 in D1Baseball Top-25. FSU is No. 9 in the Coaches Poll, No. 10 in Baseball America’s rankings and by the NCBWA and No. 11 according to Perfect Game and The Athletic.
\n\u00a0
\nSERIES HISTORY VS. NC STATE
\nFSU is 77-40 all-time against NC State, including 34-10 at home, 27-24 on the road and 16-6 at a neutral site. The Seminoles are 15-5 in the ACC Championship and 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament. In a series that began with a 12-3 win in Raliegh, North Carolina, in 1962, The two teams meet in 2026 after a one-year hiatus in 2025. With the exception of the shortened 2020 season, last year was the only time since Florida State joined the ACC ahead of the 1992 season that the two teams did not play multiple games against each other. FSU owns the longest win streak in the series, with nine consecutive from 1994-1997, while two of the last six matchups have gone extra innings, with a 6-5 win in 17 innings in 2022 and a 5-4 10-inning defeat in 2023.
\n\u00a0
\nTwo years ago, then-No. 7 Florida State and then-No. 20 NC State split a pair of games in Tallahassee. The Wolfpack took the opener 8-7 on May 3, 2024, with the help of a four-run second inning. A two-run rally in the eighth fell short in the one-run defeat. The Seminoles won the finale two days later, 8-1 on May 5. This time it was FSU with a four-run first inning and another three in the sixth on the way to the win.
\n\u00a0
\nRecaps and box scores from the 2024 games are available here: May 3<\/a> | May 5<\/a>
\n\u00a0
\nSCOUTING THE WILDCATS
\nNC State is 17-4 on the season and 2-1 in the ACC. The Wolfpack are 14-4 at home, 1-0 on the road and 2-0 at a neutral site. Coming off a 14-2, seven-inning win at UNC Wilmington on Tuesday, NC State opened ACC play with a series win over Boston College from March 13-15. The Pack won the opener, 4-2, and the finale, 5-1, with a 12-5 defeat on Saturday. The victory at Wilmington was the team’s first road game of the season after opening the campaign with two neutral-site wins in Puerto Rico.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Wolfpack are ranked nationally by each major poll, including at No. 10 by D1Baseball. They are 12th by Baseball America, No. 13 in the NCBWA and Coaches polls, No. 14 according to Perfect Game and 17th in The Athletic’s top-25. NC State boasts a 1-0 record against top-25 teams thanks to a 6-4 win over then-No. 16 Coastal Carolina on March 3.
\n\u00a0
\nLAST TIME OUT: NO-HITTER AT HOWSER
\nFlorida State threw a combined no-hitter to beat Bethune-Cookman 12-1 in seven innings on Tuesday evening in Tallahassee. The no-hitter is the 11th in school history and first since 2019. Junior left-handed starter Cooper Whited<\/a> and two junior right-handed relievers, Brodie Purcell<\/a> and Cole Stokes<\/a>, combined to hold Bethune-Cookman hitless. Redshirt senior catcher Nathan Cmeyla<\/a> caught all 99 pitches.
\n\u00a0
\nTuesday is the fourth combined no-hitter in program history, joining 2016 and 2019 as no-hitters with three pitchers along with a two-pitcher no-no in 1968. It is the second seven-inning no-hitter on record, along with Jeff Hill’s against Springfield College on March 27, 1968. It is the third where Florida State allowed at least one run, joining a 7-1 no-hitter in 1967 against Georgia Southern and a 3-2 no-hit victory in 2016vs. Toledo.
\n\u00a0
\nMaking his second start of the season, Whited pitched 3.1 innings and struck out six, both career highs, with one run allowed and a walk. Purcell relieved Whited in the fourth and limited the damage to the one run while stranding the bases loaded. In 1.2 innings, he earned the win, his first as a Seminole, and struck out one with a walk. Stokes pitched the final 2.0 innings and had two strikeouts with one walk.
\n\u00a0
\nOffensively, three players had two hits, including Bailey, who homered as part of a four-RBI, two-run night. Cmeyla had two base hits and scored a run to go along with his duties behind the plate.
\n\u00a0
\nA recap, box score and postgame interview is available here<\/a>.
\n\u00a0
\nUP NEXT: RIVALRY HEADS TO DUVAL
\nFlorida State and in-state rival Florida meet for the second of three times in 2026 on Tuesday, March 24, in Jacksonville. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET at VyStar Ballpark. The Seminoles are then back home next weekend to host Duke from March 27-29, and tickets are available at Seminoles.com\/Tickets<\/a>.
\n\u00a0
\nFor more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, and keep up with the team on social media through Twitter\/X<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram<\/a> (@NoleBaseball).
\n\u00a0