Florida State has done all it can do so far to stake right to a claim for a national seed defeating Clemson and North Carolina. Standing in their way from playing on Sunday in the ACC title game is a pitcher who no hit the Noles just two weeks ago. Head Coach Mike Martin said in a mid-game interview last night that the funk Florida State players were in after the Louisville series that carried into Clemson weekend is now gone. Players are having fun and that is showing on the field and is a product of their success so far in the tournament.
Game 59 – Louisville May 23
First Pitch: 11:00 a.m. ET
FSU Starter: RHP, Drew Carlton (3-5, 4.99 ERA)
UL Starter: LHP, Brendan McKay (8-2, 1.64 ERA)
Radio: 106.1 FM – Tallahassee/ Sirius 218 / XM 193
TV/Internet: RSN/ESPN3
The Cards are going to go with the freshman lefty who dominated the Noles the last time they squared off. He pitched 6.1 innings of no hit baseball striking out 6 but did issue 4 walks. Florida State would manage just one hit off reliever Lincoln Henzman en route to a 7-0 shutout. McKay might have been more dominant last weekend against NCST as he struck out 12 batters in just 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits. The Noles have a challenge to say the least.
Florida State will counter with a freshman of their own in Drew Carlton who was roughed up in his last start against the Wolfpack. He was touched up for 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks lasting on 3.1 innings. Good news is that in his previous start against Louisville just two weeks ago he was pitching excellent before he was pulled in what later proved to be a terrible decision. The righty had 44 pitches through three plus innings as he struck out four, walked none and allowed only three singles.
As evident in the previous series both teams have the ability to score runs, the Noles scored 18 times while the Cards plated 17 runs. Florida State is going to strikeout, they are on pace to break the team record of 527 strikeouts set back by the 1999 team that played 71 games but if they can walk with their normal frequency they should have opportunities to score.
A Florida State win will force the committee to think long and hard about giving the Seminoles a national seed. We will obviously have your play-by-play right here.
Go Noles!
