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FSU baseball: Noles look to finish regular season strong against Wolfpack

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 (28-19, 19-14 ACC) will look to win their sixth straight three-game series when they travel to NC State (26-14, 17-13 ACC) Thursday afternoon.

FSU will not host a regional and knows they’ll be traveling in the postseason once the ACC Tournament is complete. The only thing they can do is continue to create momentum as a unit by beating NC State in the regular-season finale. A series win would guarantee a top four seed in the ACC Tournament.

NC State batters are hitting .290 with an on-base percentage of .373 and have slugged 67 home runs, 12 triples, and 73 doubles.

NC State pitchers will enter the contest with a 5.04 ERA, with opposing teams batting .244, with 341 strikeouts and 139 walks in 357 innings. They have allowed 51 home runs.

Defensively, NC State has 22 errors in 40 games for a fielding percentage of .985.

FSU pitchers enter the contest with a 3.20 ERA, with opposing teams batting .220, with 546 strikeouts and 162 walks in 425.1 innings.

FSU batters are hitting .244 with an on-base percentage of .363 and have 66 home runs, three triples, and 70 doubles.

Defensively, FSU has 52 errors in 47 games for a fielding percentage of .970.

FSU Keys To Victory

NC State is a good hitting team and isn’t a team that will beat itself. They play solid defense, and their pitchers are usually around the plate, allowing their defense to make the routine play.

They are not a big threat on the base paths, but there are three players with double-digit steals. However, Matheu Nelson has been an equalizer all year behind the plate.

The Noles will use the same pitching rotation as last week, with Bryce Hubbart, Conor Grady, and Parker Messick going in that order.

FSU pitchers have to avoid walks, but the FSU defense has to make plays behind them as well. The latter is something they’ve done well with as of late, but the pitching staff issued too many walks against Clemson last week.

As a team, NC State only strikes out 22.5 percent of the time compared to 32.1 percent of the time for FSU baseball. NC State pitchers will be around the plate, and they give up a ton of home runs. FSU batters will have to capitalize when they have the count in their favor, especially with runners on base. Here’s to hoping the bottom of the FSU lineup can produce as they did in a few instances against Clemson. The first pitch for Thursday’s game will take place at 6:30 p.m. on the ACC Network Extra.

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