FSU baseball: Noles look to sweep No. 18 Virginia

FSU baseball (4-4, 2-3 ACC) clinched the series against No. 18 Virginia with Saturday’s win. The Noles shutout the Cavaliers 2-0 Friday, and won Saturday’s game 9-4.

I wrote about the issues facing FSU baseball at the plate and on the mound. It looks as though FSU has found some answers for the latter, as Nole pitchers have shut down Virginia’s offense.

Friday’s starting pitcher Parker Messick went eight innings with 11 strikeouts, zero walks, and only allowed three hits.

Saturday’s starting pitcher Bryce Hubbart went six innings with six strikeouts, two walks, and only allowed one hit.

The Noles will send veteran Connor Grady to the mound for Sunday’s game. I wish I could speak as glowingly about the FSU offense. They struck out 18 times in Friday night’s game with three hits and were quite lucky Messick was so dominant.

The Noles swung the bats better Saturday, managing nine hits, nine walks, and struck out 11 times. However, the meat of the FSU offense continues to struggle to put the bat on the ball.

Elijah Cabell, Reese Albert, and Robby Martin struck out a combined 15 times over the past two games. Those guys are the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 batters in the lineup. That’s usually where your better hitters go, but that hasn’t been the case early in the season.

Martin stuck out three times in both games this series.

On another side note, the FSU defense has only committed one error in the series, which is below their seasonal average.

This is the attitude I have with his team. They can’t afford to relax and give a game away Sunday. FSU baseball needs to build on these two wins and ride these pitchers as far as they can take them until the offense finds itself.

Sunday’s game will have the first pitch at 1 p.m. and will stream ESPN3.