Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU baseball: Will Nole bats wakeup against South Florida?

By Kelvin Hunt

TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A general view of the Florida State Seminoles Baseball Team in the dugout during the game against the Maine Black Bears at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University on February 15, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 11th Ranked Florida State defeated the Maine Black Bears on Opening Day in a no-hitter 11 to 0. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A general view of the Florida State Seminoles Baseball Team in the dugout during the game against the Maine Black Bears at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University on February 15, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 11th Ranked Florida State defeated the Maine Black Bears on Opening Day in a no-hitter 11 to 0. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

FSU baseball (4-5, 2-4 ACC) saw its pitching carry the workload against No. 18 Virginia over the weekend, with the FSU offense continuing to struggle.

FSU pitchers were lights out, allowing two earned runs in 27 innings, with 34 strikeouts against four walks.

Full context, UVA struggled to score runs against North Carolina in their previous conference outing.

However, if a team isn’t good offensively, that’s the type of domination needed from your pitching staff. Carson Montgomery will get the nod on the mound for the Noles against South Florida Tuesday afternoon. He’s appeared in two games without allowing any earned runs but has five batters in four innings pitched.

The biggest question is, will the FSU batters wakeup against South Florida? FSU batters have struck out 117 times in 299 at-bats (39 percent) through nine games.

The Bulls don’t have a particularly dominant pitching staff as they have 71 strikeouts through 61 innings.

FSU pitchers have 109 strikeouts through 85 innings, so hopefully, there’s a chance the Noles could see an uptick in putting the ball in play.

The Bulls have won six consecutive games after getting swept in their series opener against Florida Gulf Coast. The Noles won 7-3 last season’s matchup.

The FSU baseball offense has to find a way to get going, as they left multiple opportunities on the table against Virginia in Sunday’s game.

The heart of order has almost zero production and have left tons of runners on the bases, which have cost the Noles early in the season.

Can we expect any adjustment from Mike Martin Jr and his staff? I would charge FSU hitters with being more aggressive at the plate. I understand they want to be patient at the plate, but if nearly 50 percent of your outs are strikeouts? Does it matter if you’re running a pitcher’s pitch count up?

They should attack any first-pitch fastball and look to put it in play instead of swinging out of their shoes. That’s the thing, they have not been a power-hitting team, and only four players have hit home runs. The first pitch Tuesday will take place at 4 p.m. and the game can be seen streamed via ESPN3.

Let’s try putting the ball in play more and see what happens, fellas!

Next. The Disrespect of Dalvin Cook's FSU Career is Unreal. dark

Home/FSU Baseball