FSU baseball: Tough midweek games prepared FSU for pitching issues against UNC?

FSU baseball kept its season alive with a 7-3 win over Virginia on Sunday and will face the North Carolina Tarheels on Tuesday at 2 p.m. An excellent start from Carson Dorsey helped preserve a bullpen that's been limited in the postseason. FSU has only used four relief pitchers: Brennen Oxford, Conner Whittaker, Joe Charles John Abraham, Noah Short, Ben Barrett, and Conner Hults. However, it's been primarily Oxford and Whittaker in high-leverage situations. FSU already had a limited bullpen going into the postseason, and the blown lead in game one against Tennessee compounded the issue with the loser's bracket format. It's a one-game-at-a-time approach, and the Noles must beat North Carolina before worrying about defeating Tennessee twice. The good news is that FSU has a day to rest before playing North Carolina on Tuesday, and Oxford only threw 31 pitches on Sunday against Virginia. No matter who FSU faces, the offense must continue to score runs like they have in the postseason, only scoring fewer than seven runs once.

However, it's the tough midweek games that prepared FSU for its game against North Carolina on Tuesday. FSU had the No. 7 ranked non-conference RPI going into the postseason. They defeated postseason teams like Stetson and Florida (3x) this season in midweek games. Those midweek games were pitched by committee approaches, which will likely be the approach against North Carolina. The Gators hit for more power, with North Carolina holding an edge with batting average and on-base percentage. Andrew Armstrong, John Abraham, and Joes Charles are three guys I'd expect to see at some point against North Carolina. They haven't pitched much in the postseason, but they pitched against the Gators in at least two of the three games with varying success. North Carolina hasn't lit the world on fire offensively through two games in the MCWS. If the FSU offense continues to show up, they should have an excellent shot to keep their season alive and face Tennessee again. If that's the case, Jamie Arnold and Conner Whittaker will have had four rest days since their last outing, which would give FSU their best chance to win on Wednesday.