FSU Baseball already wins postseason by advancing to Super Regionals

FSU baseball looks like a team possessed as they made quick work of the Athens Regional this past weekend to advance to the next round of the postseason.

As the FSU baseball team made quick work of the Georgia Bulldogs for the second straight night on Sunday and advanced to the Super Regional round of the annual NCAA Tournament, one thought had to have come into the mind of many people in garnet and gold: where in the #@%& did this Seminoles team come from?

Yes, I know that the Noles under legendary head coach Mike Martin have been a team that has made it to the College World Series over 40 percent of the time that No. 11 has been in charge so they know what they are doing during the postseason – but also remember what the FSU baseball team has been through this season.

This was a Seminoles team that dropped 12 of 18 games in the middle of the season – including getting swept by a rival Florida team that is heading home after getting eliminated by Dallas Baptist – and split their final 10 games that included the ACC tournament.

Florida State Seminoles

This was a FSU baseball team that the selection committee said was one of the final four teams that made it into the tournament – more than likely having something to do with this being Martin’s 40th and final season leading the Noles – and put them with the No. 4 national seed’s regional.

How did the Seminoles respond? By averaging nearly 12 runs each game while allowing just over three runs in each of their three wins over Florida Atlantic and Georgia while making senior walk on Tim Becker a storybook hero with his weekend that include three homers and seven RBIs in the first two games alone.

The story of the former club team player from Palm Beach County was the highlight of a storyline that includes domination at the plate that included home runs from guys like Drew Mendoza, Reese Albert, Caleb Smith and more along with quality starting pitching from the three starters this weekend (Drew Parrish, CJ Van Eyk and Conor Grady).

Now, for the 17th time in the last 21 seasons since it started, the Seminoles are back in the Super Regional round and will take on LSU – but no matter what takes place against the Tigers, the Noles have won the postseason.

For the love of God, the FSU baseball team – on paper – didn’t have any reason to even be in the field of 64 teams and all of a sudden are one of the 16 teams left standing and playing next weekend. That fact alone considering everything else shows why the Seminoles have already won – and everything else from this point, from 40 wins to an Omaha return – is a bonus.

After decades of Martin’s leadership not bringing home a national title, though he did play for it during two trips to Omaha, it’s the small victories that must be looked at – and playing in the second weekend this season fits right in that category.