FSU gets its second weekend series sweep and prepares for a midweek matchup against JU

The Florida State Seminoles and Coach Link Jarrett return to the diamond on Tuesday after sweeping the Penn Quakers over the weekend. 

    FSU will travel across 1-10 to Jacksonville to play against the JU Dolphins in the newest edition of a historic baseball series between the two programs. A tradition started by legendary head coach Mike Martin will see its 182nd game played. The Noles snuck out a 7-6 victory in 11 innings the last time these two played.

    Before we talk about JU, let's take a look at what happened last weekend. 

Penn Review

    FSU's defense shut down the Quakers nearly all weekend. The Noles outscored the Quakers 38 to 7 across the three games, thanks to some great defense. As each game goes on, FSU makes it more and more evident that they will hang their hat on their pitching and ability to prevent runs by the eight other players on defense. 

    The Noles' starting pitching rotation is off to as good of a start as you could hope for. After stifling JMU on opening weekend, they were able to repeat their performances and look just as good this time around. Their final stat lines on the weekend:

• Arnold - 5.0 IP, 8 K, 0 BB, 2 H
• Volini - 5.2 IP, 6 K, 1 B, 2 ER
• Wes Mendes - 8 K, 1 BB, 1 ER

    As an entire pitching unit, FSU ranks second in the ACC in ERA (1.35), second in strikeout (80), and is tied with the least amount of earned runs given up. Arms like Abraham, Ben Barrett, and Maison Martinez have been some guys that Micah Posey goes to pretty regularly to relieve his star-studded starters. 

    Defensively, the Noles were sound in almost every facet. Across all three games, FSU committed just two errors. Ideally, you would like to commit zero but given that the Noles have the 4th best fielding percentage in the entire conference (0.984). Chase Williams made numerous good plays in the outfield and Myles Bailey had maybe the highlight of the weekend, snagging a line drive down the first base line. 

    The bats started the weekend absolutely scorching. On Friday night, FSU scored 24 runs on 20 hits. The last time the Noles scored 20+ runs in a game was against the UCONN Huskies in the Tallahassee Super Regional last season. Drew Faurot had a massive day Friday night as well. He hit his third home run of the season and contributed 5 RBIs.

    Leadoff batter Gage Harrelson kept up his strong performance against the Quakers. Over the weekend, he collected eight hits, including a base-clearing triple, and showcased his speed on the bases. Harrelson is now 5-for-7 in stolen bases, ranking second in the ACC after the first seven games.

    

    Lodise keeps showing how much he's developed in the offseason. He had two HR and three RBIs across the weekend's three games and has his batting average up to .400 (second on the team).

    Cal Fisher and Max Williams started to find their footing as well. Fisher has his AVG up to .304, and Williams's continues to climb, now at .276. Freshman catcher Hunter Carns put his name on the map, as if it wasn't already, on Saturday afternoon. He went 4-4, with an RBI and a HR. The freshman has the potential to be the ACC freshman of the year...

FSU Team Batting Stats after the weekend

• .336 AVG (3rd in ACC)
• 0.439 (4th in ACC)
• 16-19 on stolen bases (2nd in ACC)
• 10 HR
• 57 strikeouts which is 4th least in the ACC

JU Preview

    The Jacksonville University Dolphins host FSU at John Sessions Stadium, currently sitting with a 3-4 record. After dropping their first four games, the Dolphins swept Illinois State last weekend. They're looking to keep up with this momentum and bring it into this afternoon's game. 

    Two players have stood out in the JU lineup: Josh Steidl, a senior from Boca Raton, Florida, and Jaden Bastian. Both have had strong starts to the season, particularly from behind the plate. After the first seven games, Steidl is hitting .381 with a .810 slugging percentage, while Bastian is batting .360 with a .520 slugging percentage. Steidl leads the team in homers with three and seven RBIs. His three home runs are second in the ASUN. Jaden Bastian is a menace on the bases. He's 5-5 on stolen bases, the best rate in the ASUN. 

As a team, JU is batting:

• .233 AVG
• .352 SLG%
• 11-14 on stolen bases (2nd in ASUN)

    What really stands out about their lineup is that they have 58 strikeouts on the season. This is the third most in the ASUN. Look for the Noles to get some swings and misses this afternoon. 

Pitching Matchup

FSU - Evan Chrest

• 1.93 ERA
• 4.2 IP
• 4 K
• 1 BB
• 5 pitch mix: SNK, SL, CT, FB, Curve

Chrest is a transfer from JU, so this will be his first game against his former club. Peyton Prescott was another Dolphin last season that now dawns the Garnett and Gold. 

JU - Alex Walsh

• 4.26 ERA
• 6.1 IP
• 4 K
• 1 BB
• .222 AVG against

    As a unit, the JU pitching staff has pitched a 5.46 ERA, 53 K, and 24 BB (3rd least in ASUN). They've given up 5 HRs so far in the season. The Noles may not get many freebies behind the plate this afternoon so look for them to be patient and get some better ABs. The quality of ABs was something Jarrett wanted to see improve this week.

    Something that's been a lot of fun to watch, and a little different than last year, is the athleticism this team has. They're super aggressive on the base paths with the additions of Chase Williams and Harrelson and have made highlight plays seen as normal on the defensive side of things. Jarrett highlighted this in his post-game presser on Sunday afternoon:

    "The athleticism behind the plate keeps us checked"

    This afternoon will be a little family reunion for a pair of brothers. The DeLamielleure brothers Brody (FSU) and Blake (JU) will face off for the first time in their collegiate careers.

Tune in to tonight's game at 5:00 pm...