FSU baseball: Notre Dame sweeps three-game series from Noles

FSU baseball (16-11, 6-6 ACC) got swept by Notre Dame to suffer their first series loss of the season. The Noles have lost five straight games.

FSU wasted an excellent start from Parker Messick in game one to lose in extra innings Friday night. Notre Dame knocked Bryce Hubbart out of the game early, but Jack Baumeister pitched well in relief before the bullpen blew a two-run lead in the eighth inning of game two.

The third game saw Notre Dame score nine runs, holding a 9-4 lead in the eighth inning before FSU pushed across a few runs in garbage time to make it seem respectable.

I said the Noles would have to do much better with situational hitting in the series, and they failed to do so when it counted. They left 25 runners on base and failed to execute bunts, moving runners on second base over with no outs on several occasions.

They made the third out of an inning at third base, which is a no-no. The bullpen hasn’t been reliable outside of a couple of players all year, but I believe the starting pitchers have begun to press, knowing the offense can’t consistently get the job done.

I know some folks will claim that what FSU is going through is “just the game of baseball,” but I played at a high level and can tell you it’s more than that.

This team can’t hit anyone with decent pitching and has feasted off mediocre non-conference teams. FSU has 16 wins and half of those wins have come against non-conference teams with a combined record of 54-52.

Check out the records of those opponents:

• James Madison (16-11)
• Samford (13-12)
• California (12-14)
• Bethune Cookman (13-15)

The conference games they have won have come against teams that give up runs, with Wake Forest as an outlier because FSU’s pitching dominated their hitters by only allowing three runs over the final two games.

Wake Forest ranks No. 17 at 3.46, NC State ranks No. 56 at 4.14, and Duke ranks No. 141 at 5.15. Notre Dame went into the FSU baseball series and ranked No. 14 in ERA at 3.40.

This FSU baseball team has a lot of flaws and continue to make the same mistakes over and over. They strike out 32 percent of their at-bats and have an on-base percentage of .375(outside of the top 100 teams), leaving 218 runners on base.

They have four players with at least 17 starts that strikeout in 34 percent or more of their at-bats. One of them strikes out 43 percent of their at-bats.

They have a team batting average of .275, which is also outside of the top 100 teams. If their starting pitching doesn’t keep them in games, they have little chance of beating any top teams.