FSU Edges Charleston 3-2

TALLAHASSEE, FL (FSU SID) — Quincy Nieporte‘s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth broke a 2-2 tie as top-seeded Florida State (43-19) held on to defeat second-seeded College of Charleston (44-14) 3-2 to advance to Sunday‘s championship final of the 2015 NCAA Tallahassee Regional. The Seminoles will play the winner of Sunday‘s 12 noon elimination game between Auburn and the College of Charleston at 6 p.m. on Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium. It was an eighth inning to remember on Saturday night as the two teams exchanged game-changing home runs first by the Cougars‘ Carl Wise and then by Nieporte. FSU starter Boomer Biegalski found himself in control throughout the game holding the College of Charleston to just three hits over 7.2 scoreless innings. But the Cougars staged a two-out rally in the eighth beginning with Alex Pastorius‘ two-out double to the gap in left center. On the very next pitch from Biegalski, Wise tied the game at two connecting on a two-run shot off the scoreboard in left. The tie was short lived as Nieporte once again game through when the Seminoles needed him the most, this time taking a 2-1 pitch from Charleston starter Brandon Glazer (10-2) just over the fence in left as Florida State retook the lead at 3-2. The home run, a line drive bullet, was his sixth of the season. Billy Strode entered in the ninth and recorded the final three outs for his 14th save of the season. Dylan Silva (7-1), who entered in the eighth and recorded the final out of the inning as he got Blake Butler to groundout to short, earned the win. Both starting pitchers exchanged zeros for the first four innings before Florida State broke the scoreless tie plating two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead. The first three Seminoles to the plate reached off Charleston starter Glazer with a single by Taylor Walls, a walk to Danny De La Calle and an RBI single back up the middle by Josh Delph to bring home Walls for the first run of the game. DJ Stewart followed two batters later with an RBI single up the middle to give the Seminoles a two-run advantage. The lead held true through seven innings as Biegalski kept the Cougar bats at-bay limiting the Charleston hitters to just three hits over that span. The sophomore right hander finished with eight strikeouts moving his season total to a team-high 119 strikeouts – the most since Luke Weaver had 119 in 2013. Biegalski did not face more than four batters in an inning on Saturday night and at one point retired nine straight Cougar batters. Stewart led all hitters on Saturday with two-hits on a pair of singles in the third and fifth innings.