The Daily Nole

FSU Baseball: Wild Start a Mix of Good and Bad

Phil Kelly/FSU athletics

At 2-2, Florida State is off to its worst 4-game start since the 2004 season. While it is disappointing, the cause for concern this early is fairly small. What the first week of the season has been however, is absolutely nuts.

In four games, FSU has been 1-hit twice. After being mowed down by Virginia Commonwealth and starter Sean Thompson in the opener, the Seminoles were held to just one hit again on Tuesday in a 4-2 loss to South Florida.

Unlike the 3-0 season-opening defeat at the hand of VCU, Tuesday’s defeat was much more disheartening. Despite managing just a single hit, the Seminoles were in control for most of the day and took a 2-0 lead into the final inning. In that final USF frame, six FSU hurlers combined to give up four runs on just one hit.

In between those two 1-hit losses were two blowout victories over VCU by a combined 25-6 margin. The latter of the two resulted in a milestone victory — the 1,900th in the legendary career of head coach Mike Martin.

While the 2-2 start is hardly what fans envisioned entering the year, it hasn’t been all bad, but rather a mix of good and bad.

The bad has been much more obvious. In FSU’s two losses, it has just a combined two hits. The back end of the bullpen also looks to be a mess as the Seminoles used six different pitchers in a 4-run ninth inning for USF on Tuesday that resulted in one Bulls’ hit.

Among the individuals struggling are a pair of preseason All-Americans Cal Raleigh and Dylan Busby. The two so far, have combined to go just 2-for-31 at the plate.

On the positive side of things, FSU starting pitching has posted just a 1.11 ERA, following Andrew Karp’s seven innings of shutout ball on Tuesday. Youngsters have also contributed for the Seminoles with Nick Derr, J.C. Flowers and Rhett Aplin all having been productive early on.

Derr’s .556 batting average leads the team. Flowers is hitting .333 while playing an outstanding center field. Aplin is hitting .286 and is one of two Seminoles to homer thus far. Aplin also ranks second on the team with four RBIs.

For Florida State, it’s certainly far too early to hit the panic button. Teams have slumps throughout the course of any season, just having it happen this early is uncommon for FSU.

At one point late last season, the Seminoles had a 6-game stretch where they went just 1-5 with losses to Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast. FSU responded by winning eight of the next nine and reaching the NCAA Tournament Super Regional.

While the rough start certainly is frustrating, there’s plenty of time — at least 52 games — left to turn things around. It’s unlikely that hitters as good as Raleigh or Busby, or even second baseman Matt Henderson for that matter, will hit sub-.100 for the rest of the season. On most nights, FSU probably won’t need six pitchers to get three outs in the ninth inning. Florida State will also get touted freshman Drew Mendoza back by at least April.

It’s true that a season began with so much potential hasn’t got off to the best of starts, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a special year. It’s a long season, folks.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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