FSU baseball hosts South Florida, looks to stay undefeated

FSU baseball completed a series sweep of Western Carolina over the weekend to move to (6-0) on the season. The Noles will look to continue that momentum when they host the South Florida Bulls (4-2) Tuesday night at Dick Howser Stadium. The Bulls lost their first two games against UConn and Indiana State but won four consecutive games over Marist College. The Bulls bring a .308 batting average and .419 on-base percentage into the contest. They are not a deep team, with only nine guys with at-bats this season. They haven't hit for much power and aren't too aggressive on the bases. USF pitchers bring a 1.96 ERA, 47 strikeouts, and 24 walks in 46 innings. I'm not sure who'll start on the mound for the Bulls, but it'll likely be a committee approach since they've played four games since Friday.

They've had three errors in six games for an excellent .985 fielding percentage. Conner Whittaker will get the start on the mound for the Noles. Whittaker was victorious in mid-week action against Jacksonville last week. We usually know what we're going to get from Whittaker, and he matches up well against a team that hasn't shown much power through six games against sub-par competition. The FSU offense has been on fire through the first six games, averaging 11.5 runs per game. FSU has nine batters with multiple starts batting well over .300. I'm interested to see how the bullpen fares for the Noles. They've been the shakiest unit in the short season. They need to decrease the walks allowed and the amount of runs allowed. Some of that is young guys getting experience in low-pressure situations, but some veterans have had a part in that. The game will begin at 5 p.m. ET, airing on ACCNX, and can be heard on WFLA 100.7 FM.