FSU Baseball 2018 Weekend Preview: vs. Troy

Here’s a preview of FSU baseball and their next set of games during the 2018 baseball season.

Well, there is good news and there is very bad news for a FSU baseball team who entered the season with hopes of heading back to Omaha for the College World Series. The good news is that the Seminoles are undefeated still after the first four games of the season – something they could not say during the 2017 campaign.

The very bad news is that they will be without maybe the team’s best all around player for the rest of the season – that news coming on Wednesday after it was revealed that pitcher Tyler Holton, the team’s number one starter and someone who was going to see plenty of time in the field, is done for the season after tearing his UCL and he will need surgery on it.

Now, the Noles and head coach Mike Martin must figure out how to regroup with an entire season to go. With that, here’s our preview of this weekend’s game between the Seminoles and the Troy Trojans.

The Last Time The ‘Noles Took The Field

Much like last season when they played, FSU baseball had their hands full with the South Florida Bulls on Tuesday inside Dick Howser Stadium. With the game tied at one in the bottom of the eighth, the Seminoles put four runs on the board that included an RBI double by Steven Wells and back to back bases loaded walks to Cal Raleigh and Drew Mendoza en route to the 5-2 win.

However, the bottom would drop out on the team when Martin announced on Wednesday that Holton, who was without a doubt the top arm for the Noles this season, will not play again in 2018.

“He’s doing the best thing right now,” Martin said. “We’ll be there for him and help guide him through the rehab process, but as a team, we have to keep moving forward on our goals for this season.”

Opponent Preview

The men from Troy, Alabama come into the weekend with a record of 4-1, after winning their first four games against Tennessee-Martin before dropping a midweek game on the road against the Auburn Tigers.

On the season, the Trojans are batting .319 as a team and already have 10 home runs while their pitching staff as a combined 2.00 ERA and is holding opponents to a .169 batting average.

Next: 3 things Noles must improve to win big in 2018

Interesting Fact

This weekend will be the first time FSU baseball has played Troy in the regular season since 1999, though the teams played twice in the 2013 NCAA Regionals with the Seminoles winning both games. The Trojans won the first ever game between the teams in 1948 and a rain-shortened game in 1980, but Florida State has won the other 16 meetings between the teams.