FSU Baseball 2019 NCAA Tournament Preview: vs. Florida Atlantic

Here’s a preview of FSU baseball and their next set of games during the 2019 season.

After moments of wondering if they would make it into the NCAA tournament for a 42nd straight season, the FSU baseball team saw their names pop on the television screen this past Monday – and the second season began for the Seminoles as they focus on attempting to send their longtime head coach as a champion.

For 40 seasons, Mike Martin has led the Seminoles into action – and now, for one final time, he heads onto the field in the NCAA regional tournament hoping that the Noles can put together some kind of luck and make it back to Omaha and take part in the College World Series in a couple weeks.

But before FSU baseball can get to the Midwest part of the country as one of the final teams left standing, they must get past a group of teams that includes one of the top seeds in the country and an opener against a Sunshine State team they haven’t played in over two decades.

Florida State Seminoles

Here’s our preview of this week’s game between the Seminoles and their foe during this week of action.

The Last Time The ‘Noles Took The Field

After four straight seasons of making it to the ACC tournament’s title game and winning three of the championships, the Seminoles fell short this season but in the end may have done just enough in one of their games to break over the barrier and get into the field of 64 teams for the NCAA tournament.

In the tournament’s first day, FSU baseball tied their game against Wake Forest on a two run homer from Nander De Sedas – before promptly giving up three runs later in the game and dropping a 7-4 decision that had many wondering if they would be home watching the tournament as a result.

In the final game before the semifinals, the Seminoles made a statement against a ranked N.C. State team when the Noles dropped 11 runs early on and starting pitcher CJ Van Eyk was legit in the shutout win that likely put FSU baseball into the postseason.

Opponent Preview

FSU baseball will open with a Florida Atlantic Owls team they have not played since the 1998 season – a team from Boca Raton that comes into the weekend with a 40-19 record on the season that included making it to the C-USA title game as well as winning their final three conference series of the regular season.

All time, the Seminoles hold a 8-1 advantage in the series between the two schools with all the games taking place over a four season stretch (1995 to 1998) and Friday’s showdown being the first game between the programs that has not been played inside Dick Howser Stadium.

Interesting Fact

For the Seminoles, this season is about sending Martin out with a bang – and maybe his first national title if all the stars are aligned up together – but it’s also about avenging what took place last season during the NCAA tournament’s opening round inside of Dick Howser Stadium.

Coming into the 2018 tournament as the No. 7 national seed, the Seminoles were upset in their first game by a Samford team before getting eliminated in the second game by a Mississippi State team thanks to a walk-off homer that ended the season for the Noles.