One of the pleasant surprises for Florida State baseball on the season has been J.C. Flowers. Flowers has raised his batting average by more than 40 points thus far and has already set new career-highs for home runs and RBIs, but that’s not the headliner.
With just three weekends remaining in the regular season, Flowers is currently tied with Clemson closer Carson Spiers for the ACC lead in saves with 10. It was known when he arrived at FSU that Flowers had the ability to pitch, but did not do so over his first two seasons.
Among the eight ACC pitchers with more than five saves, Flowers is the only one of them not to throw a pitch before the season. For the year, Flowers has worked 18.2 innings and allowed just three earned runs on 14 hits while walking just seven and striking out 19.
In 15 total appearances, Flowers has yet to blow a save. Opponents are hitting just .206 against the right-hander. Among Seminoles, only Conor Grady has yielded a lower opposing average.
On April 24, Flowers was among 45 pitchers named to the National Stopper of the Year midseason watch list by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Since its inception in 2005, no Seminole has ever won the award.
Flowers will likely be in the lineup and perhaps on the mound this weekend as the Seminoles welcome Pittsburgh to Dick Howser Stadium for a 3-game series, beginning on Friday night. The Panthers are coached by former FSU pitching coach Mike Bell.
Other Fun Facts
FSU women’s golfer Frida Kinhult was named the ACC Co-Player of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year earlier this week. Kinhult is the first Seminole to win either honor and just the fifth player in ACC history to take home both honors in the same season.
Since beach volleyball became an NCAA sport in 2016, Florida State is one of four programs to reach the NCAA Championships each season. The other three are USC, UCLA and Pepperdine. FSU opens the championships against Cal Poly on Friday afternoon.
FSU softball is one of two schools in the nation to have five different players with at least 10 home runs.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. Like The Daily Nole on Facebook. To pitch an idea, author a post or to learn more about The Daily Nole, email Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com.
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