Florida State baseball resumed play early Sunday morning and eliminated Coastal Carolina in a 2-1 victory. The Noles will face the loser of the St. John’s and Northern Illinois game later Sunday night.
FSU head coach Link Jarrett elected to use starting pitcher Trey Beard to finish the final four innings against Coastal Carolina, which means all three starting pitchers have pitched in the Tallahassee Regional.
Florida State must win three more games to advance, which means its pitching depth will get tested to the max. The good news is Florida State did a good job developing some pitchers in its midweek games this season. Here’s a look at some available arms to start tonight’s game.
- Cooper Whited
- Payton Manca
Whited started several midweek games this year, including against the Florida Gators. He went 3-2 with a 3.57 ERA. Manca was set to join him as a midweek starter before an injury set him back. Both have the ability to eat up innings. Relief pitcher Kevin Mebil hasn’t pitched in the Tallahassee Regional yet, and can pitch 2-3 innings in an outing.
Florida State needs to take these next three games one at a time to survive and advance. Hopefully, the FSU offense can give the pitchers some breathing room.
Brodie Purcell only threw 15 pitches against Coastal Carolina on Saturday and could be available. Cole Stokes only threw five pitches on Friday against St. John’s. Chris Knier and John Abraham threw 38 pitches each on Friday night and could probably throw an inning or so if needed.
Wes Mendes only threw 51 pitches on Saturday and could probably be available for some innings on Monday.
The biggest thing is to get through Sunday night’s game using as few pitchers as possible. If Florida State gets through that game with a combination of Whited, Mebil, and Stokes? It would give Knier and Abraham another day of rest, coupling them with a potential Manca Start in the next game.
If they win Sunday night, then it moves to Johnny Wholestaff. The biggest thing Florida State needs is for the offense to come alive. FSU only scoring two runs against Coastal Carolina allowed the smallest margin of error for FSU pitchers, and luckily, Trey Beard was lights out. Â
The strength of the Florida State team has been its pitching all season. It’ll need every arm possible to win the next three games.
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