Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU Baseball 2018 Preview: NCAA Tallahassee Regional

By Jason Parker

Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of a bag of baseballs before the start of the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Vanderbilt Commodores during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of the away jersey of the Vanderbilt Commodores and the home jersey of the Virginia Cavaliers before the start of game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of a bag of baseballs before the start of the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Vanderbilt Commodores during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of the away jersey of the Vanderbilt Commodores and the home jersey of the Virginia Cavaliers before the start of game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

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

Fresh off a dominating performance in the ACC tournament last weekend, the FSU baseball team knows that the trip to Durham will be the final road trip before the College World Series – after the Seminoles were named a national seed for the first time since the 2014 season and will be home as long as they are in the postseason before Omaha.

Now, head coach Mike Martin and his Noles know that if they want to make it to the Super Regional round for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, they are going to have to take out two power programs and an upstart mid major if they want a chance to get to the round of 16 for the fourth straight season.

Here’s our preview of this weekend’s game between the Seminoles and their foes in the Tallahassee regional for the NCAA Tournament.

The Last Time The ‘Noles Took The Field

While they may have entered the ACC tournament as a team on the bubble of getting a national seed, the Seminoles made a statement with four straight wins in Durham that included three in a row over ranked teams,

The final of those wins came in the title game on Sunday, when the Seminoles jumped out to another early lead thanks to Cal Raleigh and Drew Mendoza before the Cardinals jumped back and took the lead. FSU baseball tied the game late and took it to extra innings, where Mendoza drove in two runs and Reese Albert knocked in another run.

The 11-8 victory gave the Seminoles their second straight tournament title and their third in the last four seasons – having made the title game all four years.

Opponent Preview

The Noles will open the Tallahassee Regional on Friday when they take on the Samford Bulldogs, a team who went 36-24 and won the SoCon to make the NCAA field for the second time ever – the first when they lost to FSU baseball during the 2012 regional at Dick Howser Stadium.

The Seminoles know in their second game they will face either the second seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs or the third seeded Oklahoma Sooners. MSU finished the season with a 31-25 record that included a coaching change and ninth place SEC finish, while the Sooners enter Tallahassee with a 36-23 record after losing in the semis of the Big 12 tournament last weekend.

Interesting Fact

With the 2018 season marking the 20th campaign in the current Super Regional format, the Seminoles are a national seed for the 11th time – but the previous times haven’t always equaled a trip to Omaha.

In the previous 10 times FSU baseball was nationally seeded, the Noles advanced to the Super Regional round eight times, but only made it to Omaha four times – including twice being knocked out before the CWS when the Seminoles were the top overall seed (2002 and 2003).

Home/FSU Baseball