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FSU Baseball 2018 Weekday Preview: vs. Stetson Games 1 and 2

By Jason Parker

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - AUGUST 4: Coach Mike Martin of the Florida State Seminoles throws out a ceremonial first pitch during pre-game ceremonies before play against the San Francisco Giants August 4, 2013 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays won 4 - 3. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - AUGUST 4: Coach Mike Martin of the Florida State Seminoles throws out a ceremonial first pitch during pre-game ceremonies before play against the San Francisco Giants August 4, 2013 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays won 4 - 3. (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.

If there was a time to hit the panic button for the FSU baseball program, now might be the exact time to do such a thing as the Seminoles limp into the middle of the week losers of their last five games – including two ACC series losses and the problems of last season (along with injuries this year) rearing their ugly heads at the worst time.

Now, the Noles host two games in the middle of the week before hitting the road for four straight games – including a three game set this weekend that will feature a chance for the Seminoles to play in one of the most iconic locations in all of professional sports.

Here’s our preview of this week’s game between the Seminoles and the Stetson Hatters.

The Last Time The ‘Noles Took The Field

Coming off a series loss to Georgia Tech and a season sweep from rival Florida, FSU baseball welcomed the upstart Duke Blue Devils to Tallahassee for a weekend set.

Friday’s action started on a rough note as the Seminoles gave up three runs in the first inning to fall into an early deficit. The Noles would get on the board thanks to a Kyle Cavanaugh single in the fourth inning, but that would be the extent of their scoring while Duke would add four runs in the top of the ninth inning to cruise to a 7-1 victory.

Saturday would see the Seminoles start off things with a Jackson Lueck two run homer in the third inning. The Blue Devils would score three in the next frame before Steven Wells tied it up with a solo shot in the fifth inning. Duke would tie the game in the ninth and take the lead in the 11th inning with a Kennie Taylor solo homer for the 6-5 victory.

It would be a quick two game sweep for the upstart Blue Devils as Sunday’s game was rained out and will not be made up unless needed for a tiebreaker scenario.

Opponent Preview

The Hatters enter this weekend with a 28-8 record and have won five of their last six games, including a three game series sweep of Lipscomb last weekend. Stetson will be used to being on the road for a while as these will be the first of nine games over their next 10 contests where the Hatters are away from their DeLand campus.

On the season, Stetson is batting just .251 at the plate with only one player (Nico Torino) batting over .300 at this point. Where the Hatters have been solid is on the mound, with a combined ERA of 2.29 while opponents are batting just .188 on the year against them.

Interesting Fact

While the Hatters and FSU baseball have only met 12 of the last 25 seasons entering 2018, the teams have met nine of the last 10 seasons with the Seminoles winning 20 of the 22 games over that span.

The Noles must at least split the weekday series if they want any chance of head coach Mike Martin setting the all time wins record at home in two weekends against rival Miami. A split means Sunday, April 29th would be the target date while a sweep would bump that up to Saturday, April 28th.

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