ACC/SEC baseball tournament roundup: Georgia Tech stuns No. 1 seed FSU; Auburn eliminates UGA

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Senior Jake Davies hit a pair of two-run home runs and junior Buck Farmer fired six strong innings as Georgia Tech beat No. 1 ranked Florida State 5-4 in the ACC baseball championship opener at NewBridge Bank Park on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets improved to 33-24 overall and 1-0 in Pool A with their fifth Top-25 win over the last month. The Seminoles had their four-game winning streak in the Tech series snapped, and slipped to 43-13 and 0-1 in Pool A. Tech and Virginia continue tournament play Friday at 11 a.m.

The first of two Davies’ long balls — an opposite field shot to left — gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead in the first inning. He homered again — this time to right — to extend the lead to 5-0 in the fifth. Tech held on with sophomore Alex Cruz closing out his first career save in a key NCAA-resume-building postseason win.

“I would certainly hope it enhances our cause,” Tech head coach Danny Hall said. “Let’s put it that way.”

The victory is Tech’s first win over a No. 1-ranked team since April 10, 2011, an 8-6 victory at Russ Chandler Stadium over Virginia, and the first to open ACC Championship Pool Play since beating NC State, 10-9, in 2008 at the Baseball Grounds in Jacksonville, Fla. Tech had lost three-straight tournament openers since.

Georgia Tech joins N.C. State (2001) Wake Forest (1985) on the short list of ACC Championship No. 8-seeds that have knocked off the No. 1-seed.

Davies, who was a second-team All-ACC pick at first base, hit his career-best 10th and 11th home runs of the season, and extended his ACC-leading RBI total to 62. Of his 17 career homers, 11 have come with runners on base. Davies also homered twice in an April 29 game versus Clemson.

“After you just sit there and watch your team get the lead, it makes you feel pretty comfortable,” said Farmer, the first-team All-ACC pick, who improved to 1-1 with a career 3.15 ERA versus the Seminoles. “You can throw strikes and know you have your offense behind you.”

N.C. STATE 3, MIAMI 2:

GREENSBORO, N.C.