Top 3 things to look for as FSU baseball heads to Texas for Amegy Bank College Series

Florida State baseball (3-0) took care of business on the road against the usually tough Jacksonville Dolphins on Tuesday night to set up their three-day road trip to Texas this weekend for the Amegy Bank College Series.

The Noles will play at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. They’ll face Michigan on Friday, No. 9 Auburn on Saturday, and Nebraska on Sunday. It’ll be against three different teams, but will simulate a three-game weekend series in ACC play.

The top three things I’m looking for going into this weekend

• Pitching
• Offense
• Defense

We know what the starting rotation is, provided Trey Beard can overcome his illness and pitch on Sunday. We have a good idea of what Wes Mendes is when he’s on or not. The hope is he’ll stay ahead of hitters and continue to miss lots of bats with his change-up. He dealt with more traffic on the bases than I prefer last week against an inferior opponent, so minimizing that is something I’m looking for. Bryson Moore had a tough outing in his FSU debut last week, but that could have been because he didn’t know he was pitching until the 11th hour due to Trey Beard’s sickness. Hopefully, Moore will look sharper and be able to go at least three or four innings without allowing too much damage. We just hope Trey Beard can pitch on Sunday to provide a clearer picture of what the weekend will actually look like for FSU. John Abraham, out of the bullpen, needs to be solid. I’m interested in who Link Jarrett uses, and in what situations.

Offensively, FSU will go as the top of the lineup goes. They have been swinging it well overall. Brayden Dowd at the top of the lineup as the tone setter, and I’m curious to see Noah Sheffield against better competition. Where will Chase Williams be in the lineup? Does Link Jarrett shake it up with some other bats to give guys opportunities earlier in the season? Kelvyn Paulino is a name I’ll be looking for.

Defensively, FSU has been solid, but I hope that Hunter Carnes looks better behind the plate. I’m curious to see if Gabe Fraser and Cal Fisher look smoother up the middle. There were some balls that probably shouldn’t have gotten through the infield last week.

I think FSU will hit, especially once Link Jarrett figures out who can do what. The pitching is the biggest question mark for me at the moment. That's what I'm paying attention to the most as they start to ramp up the pitch count each week.