FSU baseball: Baumeister earns ACC Pitcher of the Week honors

FSU baseball hasn’t had a lot to celebrate over the past month, losing 11 of their past 12 games.

However, the lone win against Clemson Thursday night was largely due to the pitching performance of Jackson Baumeister. Baumeister set the tone in the first inning, striking out the side and pitching seven scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts.

Both are career-highs, while only allowing four hits and two walks. The strikeout total is the most for any ACC pitcher this season and fifth most nationally.

Baumeister has a 1-2 record this season with seven starts under his belt. He has a power fastball he uses to get ahead in the count but has struggled to throw other pitches consistently for strikes.

However, he had his curveball in full effect against Clemson last week while working on a change-up. Baumeister has had solid starts and provided opportunities for the Noles to win. He pitched well against TCU, Pittsburgh, and Virginia, but FSU has struggled to score runs in some of his starts.

The hope was his performance against Clemson would catapult the Noles to their first series win since the beginning of March. However, FSU wasted a quality start from Connor Whittaker and didn’t match Clemson’s energy from the beginning of the rubber match.

There’s still a lot of games left this season, and this team still has tons of room for growth. Hopefully, Baumeister can begin to link quality starts together each time he takes the mound as FSU’s Friday night starter.

If he can consistently do that and Connor Whittaker continues to provide strong starts, they might be able to win a few series down the stretch and begin building for next season.

The Noles will be in action Tuesday night against the rival Florida Gators. The game will start at 6 p.m. and air on SEC+.