After a tough tumble out of the top 10, the Seminoles aim to rebound at home against USF before facing ACC foe Pittsburgh.
Former No. 8-ranked Florida State has dropped out of college baseball’s top 10 after suffering a 7-4 defeat to Stanford's walk-off grand slam in Palo Alto on Sunday. The Seminoles now occupy the No. 17 spot, according to Baseball America.
Luckily for Florida State (29-14, 12-9 ACC), its next five games are at home at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, beginning with South Florida (28-15, 7-11 AAC) on Wednesday.
Florida State owns the all-time series 76-16 against the Bulls, its record 47-5 in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles beat USF 19-0 in seven innings last season.
South Florida was swept by East Carolina this past weekend, run-ruled in two out of three games.
USF has three players batting over .300. Infielder Jevin Relaford leads the Bulls with a .346 BA, .901 OPS, 47 hits and 21 RBI. Catcher Lance Trippel is second on the team with a .338 average, and has three home runs and 25 RBI on 46 hits. Infielder Jack Lutz is batting .300 with an .763 OPS.
Right-hander Michael Senay leads the rotation for South Florida. Senay, a freshman who was recruited by Florida State out of East River High School in Orlando, boasts a 3.68 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 49 strikeouts and allows a .230 batting average.
As a team, the Seminoles are hitting .277, which places them 13th in the ACC. Catcher Hunter Carns leads Florida State with a .319 BA and 10 doubles, tying him for the lead with Brayden Dowd. Dowd, first baseman Eli Putnam and right fielder John Stuetzer each have 28 RBI to lead the team. Putnam also leads the Seminoles with eight home runs. Stuetzer and left fielder Chase Williams have combined for 27 stolen bases.
Wes Mendes remains the top hurler for the Seminoles. The junior left-hander has a 7-3 record, with a 2.43 ERA and 86 strikeouts. He has a 1.02 WHIP and allows opponents a .191 batting average.
Noles pitchers struggled against Stanford. At times losing command of their pitches, they could not find the strike zone at critical moments in the series at Stanford (21-19, 10-11 ACC).
After Wednesday's game versus South Florida, FSU will host conference foe Pitt (28-14, 10-11) from May 1-3.
The unranked Panthers swept No. 10 Virginia last weekend, taking down a third nationally ranked opponent this season. Pitt previously earned wins over then-No. 12 West Virginia and former No. 3 Georgia Tech.
How to Watch
Date: Wednesday, April 29
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Location: Dick Howser Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
TV: ACC Network
Radio: 100.7 FM WFLA
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