Florida State baseball (13-3) had won nine straight games since losing back-to-back games where the offense was anemic against Auburn and Nebraska. The Noles beat up on a lot of inferior teams in the midweek games and an outmatched Northern Kentucky team last weekend.
The running narrative was we would find out if the offensive explosion we’ve seen over the last few games was for real, or a by-product of facing mediocre pitching.
For one night at least, we got our answer, and it wasn’t what we had hoped. Florida Gator (15-3) pitchers dominated FSU hitters on Tuesday night to win 6-3. FSU hitters struck out 18 times (12 swinging) (there are only 27 outs in a game). The number of three-pitch strikeouts was alarming.
The first four batters in the lineup went 1-15 with nine strikeouts. They left eight runners on base and only had six hits and seven walks.
It’s still early in the season, but it’s a trend we see every year with Link Jarrett teams. They seem to eventually figure it out and win enough games to reach the postseason, but the bats usually fail them because they can’t consistently generate enough runs against the top teams.
Unless some things change, it doesn’t look like this team will be any different, and things won’t get easier as they go on the road to face Wake Forest to open ACC play this weekend.
It’s a small ballpark, and the Wake Forest offense will likely score runs, so the FSU offense can’t go into this weekend thinking 3-4 runs will be enough. Here’s to hoping Link Jarrett and the staff can start to figure things out when the arm talent they face is legit.