A Look Ahead: Louisville Cardinals

     The #17 Florida State Seminoles will look to stay undefeated at home as they take on the Louisville Cardinals in their 48th meeting ever. FSU leads the all-time series 36-11 and have won 6 of their last 10 games against the Cardinals. This series is scheduled for three games at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida; Thursday, March 28th at 6:00pm, Friday, March 29th at 6:00pm, and Saturday, March 30th at 2:00pm. No game will be played on Sunday due to the Easter holiday.

Dick Howser Stadium
Photo Cred: Tallahassee Democrat

    Florida State enters this game with a record of 20-3 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, coming off the heels of an outstanding win against the 6th ranked Gators of the University of Florida. The Noles would clinch the Sunshine Showdown Series for the first time in a decade. Louisville, with a record of 16-9 overall and 2-4 in the ACC, is on a two game win streak after upsetting #14 Wake Forest on Saturday and a 11-5 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday. 

    Last season, FSU won this series at Louisville two games to one thanks to the bats of James Tibbs III and Cam Smith. Tibbs III batted .400 in that series with 2 HRs and Smith hit .285 and a couple key RBIs.

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Batting Average - FSU: .346 (#3 in the nation) vs. UL: .330 (#9 in the nation)

Slugging % - FSU: .604 (#7 in the nation) vs. UL: .568 (#12 in the nation)

On Base Percentage (OBP) - FSU: .434 (#21 in the nation) vs. UL: .428 (#29 in the nation)

ERA - FSU: 4.00 vs. UL: 5.10

NOTABLE BATS:

FSU 

Cam Smith, 3B: AVG - .444 (leads team/top 15 nationally), OPS - 1.256, HR - 8, RBI - 26

James Tibbs III, RF: AVG - .402, OPS - 1.351 (leads team), HR - 10 (leads team), RBI - 38 (leads team)

UL 

Luke Napleton, C: AVG - .397, OPS - 1.365 (leads team), HR - 7 (leads team), RBI - 22 (tied for first on the team)

Cam Smith, 3B
Photo Cred: Noles247
PROBABLE FSU PITCHING LINEUP:

Thursday - Cam Leiter: 4-1, ERA - 4.91, WHIP - 1.57, IP - 29.1, SO - 44, BB - 19


Friday - Jamie Arnold: 5-0, ERA - 0.52 (#1 in the nation), WHIP - 0.81, IP - 34.2, SO - 53 (#7 in the nation), BB - 7

Saturday - Connor Whittaker: 3-0, ERA - 4.97, WHIP - 1.14, IP - 29.0, SO - 31, BB - 7 

KEYS TO SUCCESS:

    Although Louisville isn't as impressive as the likes of Florida and Clemson, this is a huge series for FSU. The 3 losses at Clemson last week earned the Noles some doubters in the college baseball world that questioned this teams legitimacy, and rightfully so. Up until that series against the Tigers, FSU hadn't faced any real challenge. The team showed you how they responded with that Tuesday night win against the Gators. This series serves as the next step for this team in proving its worth.

    The Noles need their bats to stay hot as they have been for the majority of this season. The Cardinals have a very capable pitching staff that have experience against ranked opponents this year, facing #14 Wake Forest as mentioned previously. Especially with some of the concerns in the bullpen, some offense like we're use to seeing would go a long way (FSU ranks 6th nationally in total scoring).

    Now the thing that has become the biggest factor, or concern, for the Seminoles is their pitching. Louisville is not a team the Seminoles can afford to walk a bunch. Coming into this series, FSU has walked the 5th most batters in the ACC (111) and average 4.94 walks a game. Louisville is #1 in the ACC in stolen bases, which could be a key component to a disastrous weekend for FSU. If the pitching staff has trouble with walks, as they have in the past, Louisville's ability to steal bases will make these problems even worse as the pitchers would now continuously look over their shoulder.

    What seems to have become the word of the season is FINISH. I have faith in FSU's offense because they have consistently performed well against pitching staff that are more talented than this Louisville one. They just need to get some improved play and consistency from their bullpen. Tuesday's game was a great response from the supporting cast, but they will need to keep this up for the Noles to have prolonged success and win this weekend.

Comments

  1. MaReaderMarch 28, 2024 at 8:04 AM

    Great read. Let's hope the weather does not become a factor.

    ReplyDelete

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