FSU With Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain in Super Regional Finale

An up-and-down 2016 season has come down to one game for Florida State and to say that the Seminoles are the underdogs would be a huge understatement.

Thanks to a tremendous performance by FSU’s Drew Carlton to start the Gainesville Super Regional on Saturday night and a nearly as dominant effort from Florida’s Logan Shore on Sunday, the Seminoles and Gators will match up in a winner-take-all for the spot in the College World Series on Monday night.

Florida comes in as the clear favorite in the contest. The Gators were preseason No. 1 in most polls and came into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 national seed. Florida has also won six of its last seven over its rivals to the north and 10 of 13 overall.

On the mound for Florida in the Super Regional finale will be A.J. Puk, the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s Major League Baseball Draft. FSU will be throwing a true freshman from Tallahassee in Cole Sands.

While the Gators are also the overwhelming favorite to win on Monday night, they’ll also feel the most pressure. Getting back to the College World Series was not only expected for Florida, but the Gators were expected to win it.

The 2016 campaign for Florida State however, was largely seen as a rebuilding year. The Seminoles were losing their wins leader in Boomer Biegalski, the ACC’s saves leader in Billy Strode and the offensive leader in virtually every major statistical category last season in D.J. Stewart, who happened to be a first round pick of the Baltimore Orioles.

FSU’s success this season has been largely thanks to the transformation of two sub-.250 hitting infielders, Taylor Walls and John Sansone, to All-Americans at the top of the order while true freshmen Jackson Lueck and Cal Raleigh have been mainstays in the middle of the lineup. The Florida State bullpen which includes Jim and Ed Voyles, Chase Haney, Alec Byrd and Matthew Kinney has also been better than advertised.

Whether or not Florida State can avoid having its season end against its rival for the second straight year will be decided Monday, but regardless of the result, head coach Mike Martin’s team deserves a lot of credit for the season its been able to put together.

In you include the midseason subtractions of outfielders Darren Miller and Gage West, FSU has lost four of its top five average hitters from last season, 32 of its 59 home runs, 25 of its 44 wins from pitchers and all 16 saves from a season ago. Still, the Seminoles have managed to win more than 40 games, reach the ACC final, sweep the Tallahassee Regional and push the nation’s No. 1 team to the brink of elimination. With nothing to lose and everything to gain on Monday night, the Seminoles are a very dangerous team.