Reeling from a weekend sweep, Florida State seeks to correct their hitting and pitching woes against Stetson. Can they break their losing streak?
The Florida State Seminoles are coming off a rough weekend on the diamond, getting swept on the road at No. 3 Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets bats were too much for the Seminole pitching staff. When the smoke had cleared from the conflagration that erupted at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, the Seminoles had lost their first ACC series of the season.
Anyone who has watched the Seminoles over the last week has seen the ebbs and flows as Florida State (24-11, 9-6 ACC) would strike first, then falter down the stretch of each game. One might ask, what is the cause and effect of this poor display of baseball?
Lack of Offense
In the Georgia Tech series, Florida State struck out 28 times. When it came to driving in runs, the Seminoles failed in that endeavor as well, leaving 18 base runners stranded.
They scored just nine runs in three games against the Yellow Jackets, while Georgia Tech racked up 29. Lack of hits and run production will doom any team at any level of the sport.
The Seminoles are batting .278 as a team, which is bad enough for 13th in the 16-team ACC.
Pitching Woes
Coach Link Jarrett burned through most of his pitching staff against the Yellow Jackets, using 14 hurlers, who collectively gave up 38 hits and 18 walks. The highly decorated staff of the Seminoles just could not induce the outs needed to stop the offensive juggernaut of Georgia Tech.
As a staff, Florida State has posted a 4.38 ERA, with 142 earned runs and 375 strikeouts in 292 innings, which is the middle of the pack in the ACC.
Myles Bailey Is Sorely Missed
When Myles Bailey went down for the season with a broken leg, so did the Noles' power-hitting threat. Yes, other Seminoles players have hit home runs, but Bailey was a force-multiplier in that opposing pitchers pitched around him, intentionally walked him, and threw at him. They would try everything to limit that sweet swing of his bat that could (and did) send the baseball rocketing beyond the outfield fences.
There are five ACC series left in the regular season, the next against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a team that Jarrett coached to the College World Series in 2022.
But first, the Seminoles should not look past their mid-week game on Tuesday against Stetson (14-21, 5-9 ASUN).
The Hatters have lost four of their last five weekend series, but are coming off a 13-3 win over Queens on Sunday to avoid a sweep. Despite a 3-9 record on the road, Stetson will face off against a Seminoles team that is reeling.
Jarrett has a talented team, but the Seminoles need to get out of their own heads and play fundamental baseball: consistent hitting, scoring runs, controlling the strike zone, and solid defense.
Hall-of-Fame NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."
The Seminoles need to develop some good habits quickly, starting with a victory Tuesday night against Stetson.
How to Watch
Date: Tuesday, April 14
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Location: Dick Howser Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Streaming: ACC Extra
Radio: 100.7 FM WFLA
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