The Florida State Seminoles moved to a perfect 11-0 on the season after they completed their third consecutive sweep of the season — this time downing UNC-Asheville (2-8) by a combined score of 17-7.
Catcher Cal Raleigh got much-needed and deserved time off from behind the plate, and the Seminoles’ pitching staff continues to dominate their opponents. FSU hurlers now have a 1.04 ERA on the season. Despite the low run support and Mike Salvatore struggling at the top of the order, FSU’s pitching staff lived in the strike zone, and it paid off with a ton of strikeouts.
As FSU gets ready for a midweek series with Kansas and then ACC play, here are five things to take away from the recent series with the Bulldogs:
1. Cal Raleigh Gets Much Needed Day Off
Something happened on Sunday that many may not have realized was a big deal for catcher Cal Raleigh and the Seminoles; he got a day off behind the plate. Raleigh caught 129 straight games heading into Sunday’s match-up where Jonathan Foster got the start behind the plate.
Raleigh was able to give his knees a break and fill the designated hitter role. Raleigh went 4-for-12 at the plate over the weekend with four runs driven in and was just a home run shy of the cycle during Friday’s 9-2 victory.
2. Florida State Starting Pitchers Make Things Look Easy (Again)Â Â
We’re not trying to be repetitive here, but the starting pitching for Florida State has been as good as and may better than one could have hoped for. Cole Sands, Drew Parrish, and Austin Pollock all turned in good outings yet again and are the main reason the Seminoles just completed their third consecutive sweep.
Friday night starter Cole Sands had the roughest outing of the three arms. Sands tossed five innings of 5-hit ball, allowing two earned runs and two walks while striking out eight batters. Neither Parrish nor Pollock allowed an earned run while both struck out nine batters. Parrish only gave up one hit to the 23 batters he faced. Pollock worked around two walks and two hits on Sunday to improve to 2-0 in his young career.
3. Pounding the Zone
The Florida State pitching staff threw 481 pitches over the weekend and 291 of those for strikes. As a team, FSU threw 60 percent strikes over the weekend and struck out 46 batters in 27 innings.
4. Failure to Generate Runs
UNC-Asheville has given up its fair share of runs on the season; the Bulldogs had been outscored 79-48 coming into the series against the Noles, but FSU struggled to manufacture runs on both Saturday and Sunday.
Florida State outscored the Bulldogs 17-7 over the course of three days, but nine of those runs came on Friday. For a team that gave up 29 runs to Mercer, it would be comforting to see FSU open some of these games up a little more, and not have to rely on Drew Mendoza to come through with his second walk-off single in a week.
5. Salvatore’s Early Struggles
Making the jump from junior college baseball to Florida State is not easy and being thrown into the top of the order makes that even more difficult, but Mike Salvatore’s struggles at the plate continue after a 3-game series with UNC-Asheville. Salvatore went just 3-for-14 at the plate with one walk. A move down the lineup may be wise while he is still trying to find his swing.
He has only struck out three times, which is tied for the lowest among starters, but he is having trouble getting hits to fall. Cooper Swanson was scheduled to start at shortstop on Sunday to give Salvatore a day off, but a late scratch to Jackson Lueck moved Swanson to left field and kept Salvatore at short.
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