Although Florida State was unable to win the ACC Tournament as it had hoped, the Seminoles should feel very good about the way they played in Greensboro. After losing its previous seven games in the conference tournament, Florida State finished 2-1 after rallying to defeat third-ranked Virginia on Saturday night.
It’s no secret that junior Luke Weaver and redshirt sophomore Mike Compton are a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation, but with lefty Brandon Leibrandt on the shelf, the depth of the rotation remains in question for Florida State. On Wednesday night however, another left-hander gave the performance of the ACC Tournament for the Seminoles.
In a 7-1 win over North Carolina in the tournament opener for Florida State, junior Billy Strode put in a career performance. In a career-high six shutout innings, Strode surrendered just four hits while equaling a season-high with five strikeouts.
During the upcoming NCAA Tournament, depth in the rotation will certainly be a major factor if the Seminoles are to have any chance of finally taking home that coveted first College World Series title. Compton and Weaver are certainly expected to give FSU a quality start each time out, but if Strode can become a dependable third option, that could prove to be enormous for Coach Mike Martin’s club.
In a 5-3 loss to Maryland on Friday at the ACC Tournament, Compton received little help from his defense as the Seminoles’ right-hander surrendered three unearned runs. On Saturday against Virginia, Weaver was far from at his best as the Cavaliers pushed across four runs against the junior in six innings of work.
Despite not getting the most quality of starts from its ace, Florida State was able to rally thanks to a 4-run seventh inning. D.J. Stewart, John Nogowski and Jose Brizuela collected back-to-back-to-back RBI singles to put the Seminoles ahead for good. A diving catch from shortstop Justin Gonzalez which became a double play an inning later, helped preserve the lead.
Saturday’s 6-4 victory over Virginia was certainly the highlight of the ACC Tournament for Florida State. Throughout the course of the season, FSU has struggled to beat ranked opponents. To be able to rally from three downs to top the Cavaliers and one of the nation’s best bullpens on a night when Weaver didn’t have his best stuff, was particularly encouraging with the NCAA Tournament less than a week away.
While Compton and Weaver were hardly stellar over the final two games of the ACC Tournament for the Seminoles, the FSU bullpen was solid throughout. In 7 2/3 innings pitched over the three games, the Florida State bullpen posted a 1.17 ERA and yielded just four total hits. Set-up man Gage Smith and closer Jameis Winston remained strong at the back end of the bullpen while Dylan Silva worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings in Friday’s loss to keep the Seminoles in the contest against Maryland.
Though Strode and the Florida State bullpen were outstanding on the mound in Greensboro, the FSU offense managed to score runs in bunches. The Seminoles scored 16 runs over the three contests, but put together an inning with a least three runs in every game. Florida State managed to get production all throughout the lineup.
Following a 7-1 win over North Carolina in the ACC Tournament opener for Florida State, the Seminoles spent the majority of their time in Greensboro playing from behind. Although the Seminoles were in the hole for what seemed like all of Friday and Saturday, they looked comfortable battling back.
FSU rallied from three runs down in the seventh to top Virginia on Saturday night, but on Friday, Florida State chipped away at a 5-0 Maryland lead. While the contest resulted in a 5-3 loss, the Seminoles showed a lot of fight and resiliency. Those are two things that will certainly be needed during the NCAA Tournament.
As resilient as FSU appeared as a team, a number of individuals came through with bounce-back efforts as well. Gonzalez’s diving catch with two runners in scoring position on Saturday night may have saved the game against Virginia, but the play came one day after Gonzalez struggled mightily in the field against the Terrapins.
The Seminoles were able to average better than five runs-per-game in Greensboro despite ACC Player of the Year, D.J. Stewart going hitless in his first eight at-bats of the tournament. Stewart was able to put a sluggish start behind him on Saturday night to deliver a clutch RBI single up the middle against Virginia to draw FSU to within one. Stewart would later score the winning run on a single from Brizuela to right field.
On Sunday night, it was learned that Florida State will be one of 16 regional hosts. The Seminoles will learn on Monday afternoon whether or not a top-8 national seed is in the cards which would make FSU’s path to the College World Series go exclusively through Tallahassee. While Florida State and its fans remain hopeful that this is finally the season that FSU wins its first national championship, the Seminoles will take with them into the NCAA Tournament, a number of positives from the ACC Tournament and just a bit of momentum.
