Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU Baseball Preview: Noles Continue Series With Florida in Jacksonville

By Ty Ragans

May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and bat before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; A detailed view of a baseball glove and bat before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

FSU baseball rebounded nicely by going 4-0 last week. The Noles have a challenging week ahead, starting with a Tuesday game against Florida in Jacksonville.

Things were looking shaky for FSU baseball following a week in which they went 1-4 with one of the losses coming in the form of a blown 10-2 lead followed immediately by a 17-0 massacre at the hands of Virginia Tech.

The Noles were in desperate need of a pick-me-up following their series loss to Virginia Tech and received it by way of a 10-9 come from behind win against JU in the midweek. The Noles followed up the walk off win with a much needed road sweep of conference foe, Notre Dame.

The 4-0 week improved FSU’s record to 18-7 overall and 6-3 in the ACC. The undefeated week was important for FSU baseball because their schedule is about to become much more difficult, starting with a midweek matchup with the University of Florida in Jacksonville Tuesday night.

The Last Meeting

FSU baseball hasn’t had a lot of success against the rival Florida Gators lately, and that’s probably an understatement. The two teams have already met once in 2017 and the result was a 1-0 victory for the Gators.

Scoring runs against the UF pitching staff has been especially tough for FSU as they have been shut out by Florida for 31 straight innings and have been struck out 36 times in those 31 innings. The 1-0 loss in Gainesville made it the third straight time FSU has fallen to their rivals.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first meeting of the season. FSU managed just four hits on the night and UF didn’t do much better with six of their own. Neither team issued a walk in the match up; it was a fluky bloop single that gave UF the only run of the game.

FSU’s Andrew Karp was fantastic against the Gators with a line of 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 11 K. Karp has been solid all year for FSU but struggled in his last start when he didn’t make it out of the first inning against JU last Tuesday. Karp will be on the hill for FSU once again against the Gators in Jacksonville and will look to rebound from his bad outing and replicate his performance from the first meeting between these two teams.

The last time these two teams met FSU was without outfielder Jackson Lueck who is an essential part of the Noles line up. Lueck is expected to be in the lineup this time around on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, heralded freshman third baseman Drew Mendoza won’t quite be ready to make his debut on Tuesday as he works on his return from injury. It’s likely we will see Mendoza this weekend in a big ACC series against North Carolina.

Opponent Preview

Much like FSU, Florida’s baseball team has had an up and down start to the 2017 season. The Gators enter Tuesday’s game with a 16-9 record (2-4 in the SEC). The Gators are coming off a home series with sixth ranked LSU; Florida was able to win two of three against the Tigers to take the series.

More from FSU Baseball

Florida enters Tuesday’s game ranked number nine by d1baseball.com, two spots higher than they were before their series win against LSU. FSU is ranked number 12, up one spot from last week after winning four in a row.

Florida has had their struggles on offense this season but there are indications they could be getting it turned around. Florida was only able to put up one run against LSU’s stud Friday starter Alex Lange but it was all they needed in a 1-0 victory. The Gators put up a combined 14 runs against a strong LSU pitching staff in the next two games of the series.

As a team, Florida is hitting just .246 on the season with an on base percentage of .317. Florida State is hitting .269 as a team with an on base percentage of .406. When looking at these numbers it’s important to consider that UF’s strength of schedule to date is 18th nationally while FSU has only played the 106th toughest schedule to date.

Among the regular starters for the Gators, Nelson Maldonado has been the top hitter so far with a .298 average and .391 on base percentage. Sophomore third baseman Jonathan India has been the biggest power threat so far for UF with three home runs and 17 RBI to go along with his .259 batting average.

Pitching for the Gators will be true freshman righty, Garrett Milchin. Milchin has appeared in five games this season but Tuesday will be his first career start. The freshman enters the match up  with an 0-1 record and a 2.45 ERA. Through just 7.1 innings this season Milchin has struck out nine batters and allowed three walks, opponents are batting .200 against the 6’5 righty.

How To Watch

Unfortunately if you would like to watch this game, you’ll have to make your way to the baseball grounds of Jacksonville. Why this game is not televised or available to stream is beyond me. However, you can listen to the game locally on 106.1 FM or nation wide via the FSU Game Day app. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Home/FSU Baseball