FSU baseball: Noles enter regional play against Southern Miss
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU baseball (30-22) enters the Oxford Regional as the No. 3 seed and will take on the No. 2 seed Southern Mississippi (37-19). How do the Noles match up?
Southern Miss batters are hitting .267 with an on-base percentage of .372 and have slugged 67 home runs, 12 triples, and 101 doubles.
Southern Miss pitchers will enter the contest with a 3.59 ERA, with opposing teams batting .238, 522 strikeouts, and 122 walks in 466 innings. They have allowed 47 home runs.
Defensively, Southern Miss has 49 errors for a fielding percentage of .973.
FSU pitchers enter the contest with a 3.51 ERA, with opposing teams batting .230, with 604 strikeouts and 188 walks in 468.2 innings. Nole pitchers have allowed 47 home runs.
FSU batters are hitting .245 with an on-base percentage of .360 and have 74 home runs, three triples, and 76 doubles.
Defensively, FSU has 59 errors for a fielding percentage of .970.
FSU Keys To Victory
FSU baseball has depended on their pitching to carry them most of the season, and that’s something that won’t be any different in the postseason. They’ll need to limit the damage against the Southern Miss squad that’s similar to the Noles production-wise.
Southern Miss has 4-5 guys that get on base nearly 40 percent of the time. FSU pitchers will need to avoid walks make their hitters put the ball in play. That’s something Southern Miss hitters do well as they only strike out 23 percent of the time compared to FSU batters striking out 31.7 percent.
The FSU defense will need to make the routine plays. Offensively, it’s going to be a challenge for the Noles to produce. Southern Miss pitchers average well over a strikeout per inning and less than one hit per inning allowed. Their main starters all have eras under .266.
They don’t walk many batters either, while the Southern Miss defense usually plays well. FSU has been solid on the road, winning four series on the road this season.
The first pitch will take place at 3 p.m. ET and will air on ESPNU.
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