Heels Run Rule Seminoles, 11-1, To Take Series

Friday, May 16

Tallahassee, Fla.

7 PM

North Carolina

39-11, 18-10

Florida State

36-13, 16-10

North Carolina

Florida State

May 17, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score

By: William Soulé

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 4 North Carolina ran wild on Friday night in an 11-1 run rule victory over No. 2 Florida State, securing the series and a top-four seed in the ACC tournament in the process.

The Tar Heels (39-11, 18-10 ACC) exploded on offense, scoring 11 on 13 hits to secure the first run rule in the series history between the two programs. Five different players logged multi-hit games, four scored more than once, and all but one of the 11 hitters who had a plate appearance reached safely at some point. Eight of the runs came with two outs.

The win makes it five straight in the regular season over Florida State by a combined 34 runs. It also gives the Heels their seventh straight ACC series win of the year. The offense that was much maligned in the early stretches of the season now has five conference run-rules, three more than the 2024 team.

Veteran shortstop Alex Madera led the charge at the plate, reaching base in all five of his trips with two hits, three walks, two runs, two RBIs, and a stolen base to his name.

Carolina started the spree in the top of the third with back-to-back RBIs from Luke Stevenson and Gavin Gallaher. They would go on to score in every frame until the end, including nine unanswered after the Seminoles scratched one in the bottom of the third.

The fourth blew the game wide open for the Heels. After ending the last two innings with the bases loaded, UNC looked on the verge of wasting their third straight bases juiced situation. Then Hunter Stokely took a pitch off the elbow to move everyone up 90 feet before Madera ripped a change up through the infield to score two more.

Stevenson and Florida native Carter French added the next two RBIs before Kane Kepley smoked a liner down the right field line for a double that plated one more. It was Kepley's 20^th extra base hit of the year. UNC's leadoff man coming on strong down the stretch, hitting .500 in his last five games.

The final blow came off the bat of Tyson Bass, who absolutely nuked his eighth home run of the year out of the stadium beyond the left field fence. The three-run shot gave Carolina a double-digit lead in a flash, setting up Walker McDuffie to finish off the run-rule.

Sophomore standout Jason DeCaro put together one of his best outings of 2025, striking out a season-high seven in 6.0 IP with only one run and one walk allowed. Peaking at the right time, DeCaro has a 1.55 ERA with four wins in his last five outings.

The Tar Heels will roll back into Dick Howser Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to complete the sweep of the Seminoles. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET with coverage coming on ACCNX.