FSU baseball did well to fight back for a close road victory at JU mid-week. The Noles are set to host a struggling Oakland University team this weekend.
The FSU baseball team earned a victory in their first road game of the season on Tuesday when they faced Jacksonville. The win brought FSU’s record to 6-2 on the season. This weekend the Noles return home for a three game series against Oakland University. No, not Oakland, California, these Oakland University Golden Grizzlies hail from the state of Michigan.
Last Time Out
On Tuesday it looked like FSU baseball was going to suffer consecutive mid-week losses to in-state opponents. However, the Noles showed their resiliency and rallied back to beat JU by a score of 6-5.
It was a shaky start for FSU starter Andrew Karp as the Dolphins scored a combined three runs through the first two innings. From there Karp settled in to retire the final 13 batters he faced on the way to his second consecutive solid start. Junior Drew Carlton recorded his first save since moving to the closer role by retiring all six batters faced in the 8th and 9th innings.
Sophomore catcher Cal Raleigh looks to be coming into form as he went 2-4 and launched his first home run of the season. Jackson Lueck and Nick Derr maintained their early season form by recording two hits apiece.
The early season struggles continued for Dylan Busby as he was pulled after strike outs in his first two at bats. Hank Truluck came in for Busby and was eventually replaced by freshman Tyler Daughtry who came up clutch with the game-winning RBI in the 8th inning. It was nice to see FSU rally back and win a close game. Before Tuesday FSU had lost both of their games that had been decided by three runs or less.
Opponent Preview
It’s been a rough start to the season for Oakland University baseball. The Golden Grizzlies enter their series against FSU with a 1-7 record. Due to their geographic location and the weather that comes with it, Oakland is yet to play a home game this season. Of the Grizzlies seven losses; just three of them have been by more than two runs.
Oakland enters the series with a team batting average of .218 while their opponents are hitting .308 against them. Senior infielder Zack Sterry leads the way for the Grizzlies at the plate. Sterry is on fire to start the season; hitting .375 with four home runs and 10 RBI thus far. Another senior infielder, Tyler Janish, is the Grizzlies only other batter hitting over .300. Janish enters the series hitting .333 on 30 at bats.
Redshirt senior Jake Lee is Oakland’s Friday starter and will be facing off against FSU’s Cole Sands. Lee has had some tough luck as he’s had a solid start to the season but no wins to show for it. The 6’4 righty has started two games for a total of 13 innings, allowing five earned runs, and recording 19 K’s to just one walk.
On Saturday FSU will face 6’9 (not a typo) RHP Tyler Palm, Tyler Holton will start for the Noles. On the season Palm has made two starts for 12 innings and an ERA of 3.00 with 12 K’s to nine BB’s.
Sunday starter Nick Parr is credited for Oakland’s lone win of the season so far, he will be battling Drew Parrish in the finale. Parr’s last outing was a rough one as he lasted only three innings while allowing 10 hits and six earned runs.
How to Watch
Friday’s game will start at 4 PM, Saturday and Sunday will both start at 1 PM. You can make your way out to Dick Howser Stadium to see the Noles in person or you can stream the games on ACC Network Extra. The radio broadcasts can be found locally on 106.1 FM.