Seminole Saturday Summary: FSU Football Dates and Times Set for First Three Weeks

Over 2017 and 2018, it wasn’t hard to find a Florida State football fan upset with kickoff times. Whether the Seminoles improve as a team remains to be seen, but as far as kickoff times go, things are looking up — at least for the early parts of the season.

This week, the ACC and television networks announced start times for FSU’s first three games of 2019 and not a single one kicks off before 5 p.m. EST. The season opener against Boise State in Jacksonville on Aug. 31 will begin at 7 p.m. EST and air on ESPN. It’s the seventh straight time that the Seminoles will have opened with a night game.

FSU will make its ACC Network debut in its home opener against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 7 at 5 p.m. EST. Florida State’s ACC opener at Virginia on Sept. 14 will also air on ACC Network and is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Football

Weekly Commitments: None
2020 Recruiting Class Ranking: No. 5 nationally, third in ACC* (12 total commitments)

Men’s Basketball

Weekly Commitments: None
2020 Recruiting Class Ranking: No. 9 nationally, third in ACC* (1 total commitment)

Baseball

Record: 35-20 (17-13 ACC)
Ranking: No. 22 D1Baseball.com; No. 17 Collegiate Baseball; No. 22 NCBWA; No. 6 seed ACC Tournament
Past Week: (2-2), defeated Richmond, 7-2; lost to Louisville, 14-1; defeated Louisville, 14-3; lost to Louisville, 11-0.
Upcoming: ACC Tournament
Recognitions: N/A
Big Picture: Florida State could have really benefited from winning the series at Louisville, but the Seminoles are still more likely an NCAA Tournament than not. FSU will be the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament and will share a pool with No. 3 seed NC State and No. 10 Wake Forest. The Seminoles dropped two of three to the Wolfpack this season in Raleigh, but took two of three from the Demon Deacons at home.

Weekly Review

Richmond 2, FSU 7
Sunday, May 12, 7 innings
Rain shortened what will likely be the final home game in the legendary career of FSU head coach Mike Martin. The Seminoles scored six runs in the fifth with back-to-back home runs from Mike Salvatore and Drew Mendoza putting them in front for good. J.C. Flowers added a 2-run double in the inning. Mendoza scored twice. A.J. Kloehn hit a 2-run home run for Richmond.

FSU 1, (10) Louisville 14
Thursday, May 16
Louisville wasted no time putting Florida State away in the first game of a 3-game set as the Cardinals raced to an 11-0 lead through two innings. Alex Binelas homered twice for the Cardinals and drove in five runs. Logan Wyatt was 3-for-3 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored. Louisville starting pitcher Reid Detmers allowed just four hits and struck out 11 Seminoles in six shutout innings.

FSU 14, (10) Louisville 3
Friday, May 17
FSU bounced back from an embarrassing loss in a big way. The Seminoles blew things open with five runs in the third inning. Catcher Matheu Nelson blasted a pair of home runs to finish the night with four RBIs and four runs scored. Robby Martin was 3-for-6 with three RBIs. Mike Salvatore was 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for FSU. Zach Britton homered for Louisville for a second straight night.

FSU 0, (10) Louisville 11
Saturday, May 18
The regular season ended on a sour note for Florida State baseball as the Seminoles were embarrassed for the second time in three days in the rubber game of a 3-game set. Louisville scored runs in five of the first six innings and never looked back. Jake Snider and Danny Oriente each had three hits for the Cardinals. The Seminoles committed more errors (three) than they had hits (two).

Softball

Record: 53-8
Ranking: No. 4 national seed; No. 5 NFCA; No. 6 Softball America
Past Week: (2-0), defeated Bethune-Cookman, 8-0; defeated South Florida, 12-1.
Upcoming: vs. South Carolina (Tallahassee Regional, Sunday)
Recognitions: Meghan King, P (NFCA Southeast All-Region first team); Carsyn Gordon, 1B (NFCA Southeast All-Region first team); Dani Morgan, OF (NFCA Southeast All-Region first team); Elizabeth Mason (NFCA Southeast All-Region first team); Sydney Sherrill, 3B (NFCA Southeast All-Region second team); Cali Harrod, SS (NFCA Southeast All-Region second team); Cassidy Davis, DP (NFCA Southeast All-Region second team); Makinzy Herzog, P/UT (NFCA Southeast All-Region second team)
Big Picture: After cruising in each of its first two NCAA Tournament games, FSU will have two chances to win one game on Sunday and advance to the Super Regionals. The Seminoles will not have to leave Tallahassee until the Women’s College World Series.

Weekly Review

Bethune-Cookman 0, (4) FSU 8
Friday, May 17 (Tallahassee Regional, 5 innings)
With three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, Florida State opened the NCAA Tournament with a run-rule victory over Bethune-Cookman. Carsyn Gordon, Dani Morgan and Cassidy Davis all homered for the Seminoles in the victory. Davis finished with three RBIs. The FSU freshman pitching duo of Makinzy Herzog and Kathryn Sandercock combined to allow just one hit in five shutout innings.

(4) FSU 12, South Florida 1
Saturday, May 18 (Tallahassee Regional, 5 innings)
In the winner’s bracket game, Florida State needed just five innings for a second day in a row to move to within one game of the Super Regionals. Makinzy Herzog blew the game open with a grand slam in the third to make it 6-0 before Leslie Farris added a 2-run homer in the fourth. FSU put the game away in the fifth with back-to-back-to-back-to-back solo home runs from Zoe Casas, Cali Harrod, Carsyn Gordon and Sydney Sherrill.

Women’s Golf

Ranking: No. 9 WGCA
Past Week: Currently 19th at NCAA Championships
Upcoming: NCAA Championships
Recognitions: Frida Kinhult (ANNIKA Top 5 finalist, WGCA Freshman of the Year watch list, WGCA Player of the Year watch list)
Big Picture: Barring an unbelievable Sunday, the season for Florida State is set to come to an end. The Seminoles had a great year and reached the NCAA Championships, but that looks to be as far as they go. The really good news is that FSU does not have a senior on the roster.

Weekly Review

Currently 19th at NCAA Championships
Friday, May 17 to Present
Play was suspended midway through the second round at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, but Florida State has a lot of work to do. The Seminoles are currently tied for 19th place at +32 as a team. The top eight teams advance to match play. Washington is currently in eighth at +19. FSU is set to play 23 holes on Sunday in hopes of making up 13 strokes and lapping 11 schools. Frida Kinhult has had the best showing for FSU thus far as she’s tied for 15th at +2.

Men’s Golf

Ranking: Unranked GCAA
Past Week: Finished sixth at NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional
Recognitions: John Pak (All-ACC)
Big Picture: After six straight appearances in the NCAA Championships, Florida State men’s golf will miss out on returning in consecutive years. The Seminoles were one stroke behind UNLV for fifth place at the Myrtle Beach Regional.

Weekly Review

Sixth place at Myrtle Beach Regional
Monday, May 13 through Wednesday, May 15
For the second straight year, Florida State men’s golf will narrowly miss returning to the NCAA Championships. The Seminoles began the final round in eighth place and four strokes back of fifth place, but finished one stroke short of UNLV. FSU finished in sixth place while the Runnin’ Rebels took the final spot in the NCAA Championships at -8 as a team. FSU’s Jamie Li finished third overall for the Seminoles at -11. No other Florida State golfer finished higher than 27th.

Track and Field

Ranking: Men unranked USTFCCCA; Women No. 11 USTFCCCA
Past Week: N/A
Upcoming: NCAA East Preliminaries (Friday and Saturday)
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Both the FSU men and women will vie for individual sports in Austin for the NCAA Championships, which begin on June 5. An FSU record 23 women qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries, along with 19 men.

Other News

FSU hoops guard Terance Mann was invited to the NBA Combine in Chicago.

FSU football defensive end Xavier Peters will transfer from the program.

Former FSU golfer Brooks Koepka has the lead heading to the final round of the PGA Championship.

FSU women’s tennis senior Ana Oparenovic earned ITA Southeast Region Senior Player of the Year.

*247Sports Composite rankings

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.