I hope the baseball team responds to its first loss of the season better than the fans. FSU baseball (15-1) looks to shake the bitter taste of defeat when they host the Boston College Eagles (7-6) for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
The Noles won two of three last year, with the lone loss via one run in extra innings.
Boston College rides into Tallahassee after taking two of three games from the Virginia Cavaliers, the ACC Preseason favorite.
They are an older team but don't possess much power offensively. They only have 11 home runs in 13 games, while batting .298 as a team. Their on-base percentage is .410 and they get active on the base paths with 38 steals on 42 attempts. They strike out in 23 percent of their at-bats.
FSU starting three left-handers could mitigate the baserunning some. Boston College pitchers are not overpowering, with only 112 strikeouts in 114 innings. The team ERA is 7.71 and opposing batters hit .309, and they have allowed 13 home runs.
Boston College has a .969 fielding percentage, which isn't terrible considering they probably haven't been able to practice outside much due to the weather up north.
The latter is what makes this matchup a bit tricky. Boston College is likely a team that will get better as they get more reps. They beat Virginia because the Cavaliers left a ton of runners on base, and their pitching wasn't great.
Keys To Victory
Boston College doesn't have the arms that Florida does and should be more in line with what they faced early in the season. FSU batters must show patience at the plate and stop chasing pitches outside the strike zone.
FSU pitchers need to pound the strike zone and let the defense work for them or put Boston College batters away because they strike out a lot.
This is a series FSU should win and they might have to play a doubleheader on Saturday due to potential weather issues on Sunday. Link Jarrett indicated Joey Volini would start game one, and Jamie Arnold will return to the mound for game two after missing last week with Wes Mendes in his usual role in game three.
FSU needs to win this series to get off to a good start in conference play and to gain some confidence back after its first loss this season. I'm looking for the little things like quality at-bats, pitchers not missing spots by a mile, and not leaving runners on base when they have opportunities to score.