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FSU baseball: Why Noles need to avoid letdown against Wake Forest

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) /
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FSU baseball (11-6, 7-5 ACC) rides a six-game winning streak into the weekend series against Wake Forest(6-8, 2-6 ACC) Friday night.

The Noles are fresh off a come-from-behind win over Central Florida Wednesday night. The Knights were below .500 on the season, and the same will be true of Wake Forest.

Nevertheless, these are the type of series that distinguish where the team’s focus lies. It’s not hard to get focused or excited to play rivals, but teams you’re supposed to beat can make that challenging at times.

Wake Forest comes into the series off of a win over in-state college Elon. Wake Forest batters are hitting .222 with an on-base percentage of .328, and slugged 14 home runs, and 24 doubles.

Wake Forest pitchers will enter the contest with a 4.11 ERA, with opposing teams batting .232, with 160 strikeouts and 56 walks in 127 innings.

Defensively, Wake Forest has 20 errors in 14 games for a fielding percentage of .960.

FSU’s strength is the balance between pitching and hitting as of late. FSU pitchers enter the contest with a 2.81 ERA, with opposing teams batting .200, with 211 strikeouts and 70 walks in 157 innings.

FSU batters are hitting .254 with an on-base percentage of .370, and have 22 home runs, zero triples, and 27 doubles.

Defensively, FSU has 19 errors in 17 games for a fielding percentage of .971.

How’s It Going To Go?

The Noles should sweep this ACC Conference series, but baseball can be a funky sport at times. The Noles have the better pitching staff, hitters, and defense. However, will they maintain the focus they’ve had over the past couple of weeks?

The UCF win told us a lot about their will and ability to overcome adversity. A sweep would let us know this team maintained the focus needed to be one of the better teams in college baseball. Great teams sweep instead of winning series, they should win. Wake Forest’s offense is paltry, so FSU pitchers should continue to dominate as long as they avoid walks.

Wake Forest pitchers aren’t dominant, so I expect FSU batters to continue to have good at-bats and put the ball in play. As you can see, Wake Forest will kick it around on defense. The first pitch will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, and the game will stream via ESPN3.

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