Florida State will be playing musical starting pitchers this weekend as it heads north to take on Boston College.
FSU head coach Mike Martin said that Cole Sands will have to miss his scheduled Friday night start against the Eagles. Sands was pulled prior to the fifth inning of a 7-1 loss to Duke last Friday with what Martin called biceps tendinitis.
“It’s not something you do anything more than rest and take a couple of pills,” Martin said after Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Stetson. “He’ll hopefully be ready to go the next weekend against Miami, but he will not pitch this weekend.”
With Sands out, sophomore lefty Drew Parrish will move from the Saturday slot to Friday night. Parrish is 2-0 on the season and leads all FSU starters with a 2.82 ERA. He also tops the team with 54 1/3 innings pitched and 61 strikeouts.
Despite picking up the win on Tuesday night, Andrew Karp is scheduled to pitch on Sunday against Boston College. Karp was set to move to the weekend rotation last week, but the finale of a 3-game series with Duke was canceled as a result of inclement weather. Karp allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out nine during a 71-pitch, 5-inning outing on Tuesday.
“Karpy just knew what we needed. He knew it’s very difficult to go out when you’re preparing to pitch Sunday, yet you’re trying to help your team the best you can,” Martin said. “He didn’t put any undo pressure on himself. He just went out there and pitched beautifully.”
Austin Pollock, a freshman lefty, had previously been used in the Sunday role, but is scheduled to start Wednesday against Stetson. One candidate who has emerged to start on Saturday at Fenway Park seems to be freshman right-hander C.J. Van Eyk. Martin said earlier this season that Van Eyk had moved into the conversation. In his best outing of the season on Tuesday night, Van Eyk threw four perfect innings, expending just 51 pitches while striking out five.
“C.J. will have two days off before he’s used again,” Martin said. “I thought his off-speed stuff was very effective, keeping hitters off balance and then he was able to hit the location with his fastball. He pitched extremely well with his location and keeping hitters off balance.”
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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