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FSU Baseball 2018 Weekend Preview: vs. UNC Asheville

By Jason Parker

CLEARWATER, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Infielder Jayce Boyd #16 of the Florida State Seminoles sets at first base against the Philadelphia Phillies February 24, 2011 at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
CLEARWATER, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Infielder Jayce Boyd #16 of the Florida State Seminoles sets at first base against the Philadelphia Phillies February 24, 2011 at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images) /
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Here’s a preview of FSU baseball and their next set of games during the 2018 baseball season.

For the first time this season, the FSU baseball team took part in a game played outside the friendly confines of Dick Howser Stadium when they went down the panhandle earlier this week, coming back to Tallahassee with a dominating performance from their starting pitcher and another win over a longtime foe.

Now, the Seminoles head back home for the final non-conference series before ACC play starts next weekend – with plenty of questions remaining in the young season, but plenty of optimism after another hot start that inches head coach Mike Martin closer to becoming the winningest skipper in college baseball history.

Here’s our preview of this weekend’s game between the Seminoles and the UNC Asheville Bulldogs.

The Last Time The ‘Noles Took The Field

Tuesday night, the Seminoles headed over the Jacksonville for a meeting with the JU Dolphins, the team they have played the third most in program history behind Miami and Florida. The Noles made quick work of their foes, scoring two runs in the second inning and adding one more each in the seventh and eighth innings on RBIs from Steven Wells, Rhett Aplin and Mike Salvatore.

Those runs were more then enough for starting pitcher Andrew Karp – who dominated the Dolphins by throwing six innings of shutout baseball, striking out 12 batters and allowing just four hits in the 4-0 victory.

Opponent Preview

The Bulldogs have struggled this season and come into the weekend with a 2-5 record, having their last scheduled game Wednesday against Western Carolina postponed and being swept in their series last weekend against Mercer.

On the season, UNC Asheville has been having issues at the plate and are batting just .231 as a team with only three players over .300 on the season. Their pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.28 (and just one starter under 3.80 on the season) while opponents are batting .278 on the season.

Next: Hot start for FSU hiding common problems from last year

Interesting Fact

This will be the first time FSU baseball has played the Bulldogs in nearly a decade, but the two teams did meet considerably over a decade from 1999 to 2009. All time, the Seminoles have won 21 of the 22 games played between the teams with Asheville getting a 2-1 win in 2004 (side note: was there as a student and still am upset about that loss).

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