FSU Baseball: Five Takeaways From 4-Game Sweep of Mount St. Mary’s

Florida State (37-16) may have actually exceeded expectation against Mount St. Mary’s (20-29) over the weekend, outscoring the Mountaineers 52-4 over a 4-game, 32-inning series. The Seminoles beat Mount St. Mary’s 22-0 on Sunday — the largest shutout victory since 1996 for Florida State.

The Noles will welcome in NC State to round out the regular season; that series will begin on Thursday. A strong showing against the Wolfpack could be what FSU needs to lock up a national seed and pave yet another trip to Omaha through Tallahassee.

Looking back on a strong showing against the Mountaineers, here are our five weekly takeaways:

1. Getting healthy
Going into a series against a team like Mount St. Mary’s, the biggest thing is not losing anyone to injuries. Florida State got through the 4-game series without losing anyone. As a matter of fact, it actually got two guys back from injuries.

Will Zirzow made his first appearance since his masterful performance against Auburn in the Tallahassee Regional last season. Zirzow worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning, striking out one batter and throwing just 13 pitches on Sunday. To say Zirzow is a massive addition to the Seminoles’ pitching staff would be an understatement.

J.C. Flowers also made his return to center field this weekend after having the last wire removed from his mouth last week. The speedy sophomore went 2-for-7 over four games with four runs scored and three walks.

2. 40 wins is almost a sure thing 
The Mountaineers agreed to add an additional game to the originally scheduled 3-game series, and the Seminoles should be thankful. Sitting now with 37 wins on the season, 40 wins for a 41st consecutive season seems like a sure thing.

The schedule does not fall in favor of Florida State in the coming weeks. With NC State coming to Tallahassee this weekend and the ACC Tournament to follow, wins will not come easy. Following the 4-game sweep over Mount St. Mary’s, Florida State should be able to manage three more wins easily, despite the tough upcoming match-ups, to lock up yet another 40-win season.

3. Confidence-building series
The Seminoles knew coming in that Mount St. Mary’s was not a team that was going to challenge them as some past and future opponents will. Playing a team like the Mountaineers however, can be a huge confidence booster for some guys as the regular season nears the end. Some starters were able to pad their numbers and watch as younger players were given some opportunities both in the field and at the plate.

With how well the Seminoles’ offense played and how they performed on the mound, it was a fun, rejuvenating weekend for a number of players. Mount St. Mary’s did not challenge Florida State much, but FSU never let off the gas, even with a  17-run lead in the fifth inning on Sunday.

4. Offensive explosion
The Seminoles scored 52 runs over four games against the Mountaineers. FSU hit .392 as a team in the 4-game series and hit nine home runs over 32 innings played. The Seminoles also walked 32 times to just 17 strikeouts.

5. Domination on the mound
32 innings pitched and just four runs allowed — that is taking limiting the damage to a new extreme. Sophomore Drew Parrish continued to impress with another quality outing on Friday night. Parrish turned in seven innings, striking out 11 batters and allowing just one earned run.

Andrew Karp followed up Parrish with an outstanding performance of his own, throwing a 7-inning complete game, 2-hitter where he struck out 10 batters of his own. C.J. Van Eyk and Cole Sands both picked up the win in their own starts on Saturday and Sunday.