A day after a run-rule victory, Florida State needed to battle through the middle innings (and ninth) and use John Abraham in extended relief to win a shootout.
Chase Williams went 2 for 3 with a pair of runs scored and an impressive four stolen bases — and John Stuetzer had four RBI as FSU defeated Notre Dame 9-7 on Saturday afternoon to win its fifth ACC series. Williams now has 13 stolen bases on the season, taking second and third base in the first inning and fourth inning.
Stuetzer had an RBI single in the first, an RBI on a fielder’s choice where he raced to first to prevent a double play and a sun-aided two-run triple in the fourth on a deep fly ball to center field. The triple was Stuetzer’s first of the season.
Eli Putnam added a solo home run, his seventh of 2026.
“Our guys came out with a very focused mindset, approaching the at-bats. Our staff did a good job of game planning,” FSU coach Link Jarrett said. “And it's difficult to do that and string things together. ... We had better management of swing decision. Quality of contact was obviously a lot better up and down the lineup.”
FSU led 8-2 after four innings and appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Trey Beard battled a few command issues, including a solo home run to lead off the game. The left-hander had a 1-2-3 inning in the second, third and fifth innings.
But in the sixth, he gave up a one-out double, a walk an RBI double and then a two-run single as he exited with an 8-5 lead. Beard (4-1) had eight strikeouts
Chris Knier then gave up a single, recorded a strikeout and walked a batter before FSU then turned to John Abraham in an extended relief outing.
Abraham gave up an RBI single but Jayce Lee was thrown out at home by Williams. The right-hander stranded a pair of runners in the seventh, striking out Parker Brzustewicz to end the threat. He also gave up a pair of walks in the eighth but got Drew Berkland to ground out to again strand two runners.
In the ninth, Abraham gave up a walk and a single before a Gabe Fraser fielding error allowed Notre Dame’s seventh run. Abraham induced a 5-4-3 double play to end the game as FSU won its fifth ACC series, giving him a fifth save.
“Johnny, he grinded through that,” Jarrett said.
FSU (27-11, 11-6 ACC) again went with a lineup that featured Brayden Dowd leading off, followed by Williams, Hunter Carns, Nathan Cmeyla and Stuetzer. Dowd reached on a walk and scored, Williams scored two runs and Carns reached on a pair of walks and scored two runs despite going 0 for 1. Cmeyla was 1 for 3 with an RBI single in the first and he later scored in that inning.
The Seminoles chased one of the ACC’s top pitchers after three innings.
Jack Radel’s ERA inflated from 2.82 to 3.61 after giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks in three innings. The right-hander was in trouble in all three innings, although he picked off Gabe Fraser (who had reached on a leadoff double) to make the third inning easier.
Bino Watters went 3 for 5 with two RBI and two runs scored for Notre Dame (17-17, 7-13).
Up next
FSU will wrap up the three-game series with Notre Dame on Sunday at 1 p.m. (ACC Network Extra).
Jarrett said FSU will start left-hander Cooper Whited in Sunday’s finale. Whited was on a pitch limit (33 pitches, 25 strikes) in Tuesday’s win over Stetson in the event the coaches wanted to use him against Notre Dame.
Bryson Moore pitched his normal bullpen session in the last few days, Jarrett said.
It’s not yet clear who will pitch on Tuesday when FSU visits North Florida.
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