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Florida State Loses in Stunning Fashion

2013-05-22T17:46:35Z

Going into this game the Seminoles knew that their margin for error was going to be extremely thin, turned out it ended up being razor thin.

Both starting pitchers cruised through the first three innings of the game, Sitz actually outpitching Farmer. The Seminoles starter had continually been ahead of hitters and took advantage of a low strikezone allowing only 1 single to go along with five strikeouts. His counterpart was equially dominant surrendering a HBP and a single while striking out four.

Georgia Tech struck first in the top of the 4th as they took advantage of some pitches by Scott Sitz that he left up in the zone. Sitz had continually been ahead of hitters but fell behind Brandon Thomas before he hit a bomb of the right field wall that went for a triple and was brought home by the next batter on a RBI groundout to first. Florida State fought back in the bottom of the 4th with a lead off single from Stewart followed by a 1 out single from McGee. Brizuela then walked on 4 stratigh pitches and then Smit inexpplicably swings at a 2-0 pitch and hits it right to the shortstop for an easy double play ending the inning.

Florida State battled back in the 6th as Seth Miller was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a double by DJ Stewart. Marcus Davis hit an absolute rope to right field but was deep enough to score Miller and move Stewart to third. A walk by McGee and another sacrafice to center field by Brizuela tied the game at two.

Sitz would be pulled after seven innings, but left the Noles in a fantastic position to take the first game of the tournament. Striking out six and allowing one walk, Sitz left the game with the scored tied at two. Billy Strode would enter in the 8th and get three quick outs.

The Seminoles would strike again in the bottom half of the 8th which began off a leadoff triple from Stewart. With the ball bouncing off the top of the wall in deep right center, the call would remain a triple since it did not hit above the yellow line. In what was becoming more reminiscent of the Clemson series, it appeared as if FSU would no be able to score after having a man in scoring position with none out. A pop out in foul territory from Davis and what appeared to be a pop out to the shortstop in short right field seemed like the Noles would falter like they did in a few innings this past weekend. However, some gutsy base running from Stewart and a ball almost lost in the sun brought in the run for Florida State, making it 3-2 in the 8th inning.

Robby Coles would enter to try and save it for FSU in the 9th not allowing a homerun all season. Coles quickly got two ground outs to the left side of the infield and still had not allowed a homerun all season. With the last out in sight, Coles left a ball up and saw it fly over the left field wall, his first homerun allowed on the season. The solo blast from A.J. Murray tied the game at three. The next Yellow Jacket to see Coles would follow suit with a solo homer of his own as Mott Hyde gave Georgia Tech a 4-3 lead in the 9th. One out away from winning the game and within two pitches, the Noles trail. Robby Coles had faced 130 batters this season and not allowed a homerun, it sucks for fans but is no way indicitave of Coles as a pitcher or what they should expcet from him in the future.

Florida State would enter the bottom half of the 9th with John Nogowski flying out to center field. Jameis Winston with then take a third strike looking on a 2-2 pitch. With Giovanny Alfonzo as the Seminoles’ last hope, the final out would be recorded with a fly out to left. Florida State falls to Georgia Tech 4-3 in unbelievable fashion and start the ACC Tournament 0-1 for round-robin play.

Some silver lining is that Florida State lost to Tech's ace while throwing their 3rd starter which leaves their ace and number 2 remaining for VT and Virginia. Noles will regroup and be prepared for VT tomorrow night.

Go Noles!

Florida State Orange Bowl and ACC Championship Ring

2013-05-22T15:46:20Z

What are your thoughts on the rings?

Florida State Kicks of ACC Play with Georgia Tech

2013-05-22T14:20:36Z

Florida State has taken care of the business the last few weeks with huge series wins over NC State and Clemson securing their 7th straight division title and the two seed in the tournament. With those series wins and a strong showing against the #1 team in the nation for the majority of the year on Monday night the Noles are poised to earn a coveted national seed. Wth that national seed FSU is ensured of playing at home all the way to Omaha. Even with a showing similar to last season in the tournament, 0-3, I still think their body of work is good enough to get them in but thats not really the way you want to enter the playoffs. No doubt the Noles have a tough schedule ahead of them but that is what you expect when your tournament boast 8 of the top 20 RPI teams and 4 teams ranked in the top 10.

The Seminoles start the tournament against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets who they defeated two games to one back in March. That series gave the Noles a lot of confidence and proved to the nation that despite all of the losses from the 2012 team that they could compete with anyone.

OFFENSE

To no ones surprise the Yellow Jackets have one of the best offenses in the country again because that is what they do in Atlanta. These two teams go about scoring lots of runs in slightly different ways, GT is famous for their "gorilla ball" and this once again holds true as they finished 2nd in the conference in slugging and led the team in homeruns with 54 total. With all that power comes decreased plate discipline, something that the Noles are still extremely proficient that which accounts for them ranking near the tops in the nation in walks and on-base percentage.

The top four batters in the Jackets lineup all have an OBP over .400 with the 3 and 4 hitters both slugging over .600 percent. Three of those top four hitters claimed All ACC honors this past week, Kyle Wren (.370/.437/.479) was a 2nd teamer and is the their biggest base stealing threat with 26 on the season. Slugger Daniel Palka (.344/.433/.665) had a team high 17 dingers on the season, more than 3 ACC teams while the other first teamer Zane Evans (.364/.430/.618) was second on the team with 14 homeruns.

While the Noles don't have any hitters who have reached the .600 slugging plateu their 3-4-5 hitters all are slugging over .500 and have combined for 21 of the Noles 29 homeruns. Catcher Stephen McGee (.294/.458/.525) earned a 2nd team All ACC award this past week along with OF DJ Stewart (.328/.438/.510) leads the team with 21 doubles. One big problem this season is the terrible baserunning that we have seen from this team, it is as bad as I have ever seen and doesn't seem to be improving as the season goes on.

PITCHING

Early when I said that FSU had lost one game earlier this season against GT, that was thanks in part to the dominating performance of 1st team All ACC pitcher Buck Farmer. Seven innings of two hit ball with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts was more than enough as the Noles were shutout in a 10-0 loss. The right hander did however struggle in his last start against Miami where he allowed 9 hits over 6 innings resulting in 5 earned runs.

Scott Sitz last pitched on May 13th against NC State where he didn't have his best outing as he scattered 7 hits over 5.2 innings allowing 3 runs. The fellow ACC 1st teamer has had a phenomenal season as his numbers match up well with Farmer but I still don't expect much of a pitchers duel given these two offenses. Both bullpens are pretty well rested but Florida State undoubtedly has the better one.

COVERAGE

All 13 games of this year's 40th annual ACC Baseball Championship will be televised for the seventh straight year with RSN, a regional network that includes Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, FOX Sports Net South, FOX Sports Florida and New England Sports Network, providing coverage. Selected other games will be available via Sun Sports and SportsSouth. Check local listings for more details. Sunday's championship game will air on ESPN2 for the second straight year.

All games will live-streamed via the Internet by ESPN3. In addition, all 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. games will be broadcast via satellite radio on Sirius XM 85. The 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 22) and Thursday (May 23) games will be broadcast on Sirius 93/XM 190. The Friday (May 24) 7 p.m. game will be carried on Sirius 111/XM 190, and the Saturday 7 p.m. game will be carried on Sirius 158/XM 190. Sunday afternoon's championship game will be carried by Sirius XM 91 (College SportsNation).

Fans can listen to all three games on the Seminoles.com All-Access player. Locally, fans can listen to the games on 1270 AM (Wednesday) and 100.7 FM (Thursday & Saturday). Live stats will be available through gametracker.

We will have you covered with play-by-play right here, see you at 11AM

Go Noles!

ACC Tournament Baseball

2013-05-22T14:19:23Z

All the 8 teams in the ACC Tournament have an RPI in the Top 20 with 4 of those teams ranked in the Top 10.

OFFENSE

PITCHING

COVERAGE

We will have you covered with play-by-play right here, see you at 11AM

Go Noles!

Noles Fall in Top Ten Battle

2013-05-21T17:16:18Z

In a game added late in the season to make up for various cancellations from both teams, the Seminoles were unable to complete a comeback as they visited the Tar Heels, falling 4-3.

Importance of the Game

This game will not mean much in the long run as both teams wrapped up their division heading into the ACC Tournament. It will ultimately just be an extra game for both teams to set up their pitching staff this weekend.

What to take Away from the Game

Neither team threw their ace in this game, but it was still a nice gage to see where each program is prior to the postseason. Florida State’s bullpen was great in this game and it appears this team is shaping up to make a long run in the postseason.

FSU 3 UNC 4

Peter Miller got the call for the Seminoles as they finished out the regular season and begin to look forward to the ACC Tournament. Miller got into some trouble during the fourth inning before he was pulled. Giving up a few singles and having an error from Jose Brizuela extended the inning as the Heels would score twice, brining the score to 3-1.

Bryant Holtmann would enter after Miller and have an impressive couple of innings, only allowing one base runner for UNC.

After tying the game in the sixth inning, Florida State had the opportunity to take their first lead in the following frame. John Sansone started the inning with a single and DJ Stewart would add a single of his own to give the Noles two on with one out. Both runners would advance after the Marcus Davis fly out to right. Stephen McGee would load the bases shortly after off a walk, but Jose Brizuela would end the inning with a fly out to center field, stranding all three runners on base.

In the following inning, Jameis Winton would give up what would be the game winning run. Winston suffered his first collegiate loss after going 2.2 innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.

MVP of the Game

Bryant Holtmann – Going against one of the top teams in the nation, Holtmann was able to hold UNC hitless. Granted, he only faced seven batters through two innings, but Holtmann, as well as the rest of the bullpen, have been very impressive down the stretch of the season.

Looking Ahead

Florida State enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will play Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Virginia in their pool. The Seminoles have already faced each of these teams earlier this year going a combined 3-6. FSU captured a series win over the Yellow Jackets, but fell to the Hokies and were swept by the Cavaliers.

Florida State’s first game of the tournament is Wednesday at 11 a.m. against Georgia Tech.

Florida State football recruiting 2014 board

2013-05-21T16:47:13Z

Florida State football recruiting has been very, very good under head coach Jimbo Fisher. The Seminoles recruiting classes have ranked 9th, 2nd, 3rd and 10th in his four seasons as head coach.

The 2014 recruiting class is shaping up to be another top-10 haul. But it's not without its unique challenges. Florida State lost seven coaches after the 2012 season, and the new coaches are working to establish new relationships with high school coaches and recruits. Plus, Florida State needs a lot of recruits -- at least 25, and perhaps more. Some recruits don't want to come in with many other players at their position.

Some key dates to remember in the recruiting cycle are June 12-14, and July 17-19, the two Florida State football camp sessions. Camp is where players are seriously evaluated, and many offers are given out. Before the two camps, consider any recruiting board, including the Tomahawk Nation recruiting board, to be extremely premature. We were hesitant to put this out before the conclusion of the camps, but received a lot of requests for it.

The number of offers given out by Florida State will probably grow by 50-percent between the end of spring practice and National Signing Day.

All verbal commitments are non-binding until scholarship papers are signed on National Signing Day, or in the case of January enrollees, when the prospect enrolls.

The recruiting board will be dynamic and updated often. Be sure to bookmark this page, as we'll refer to it quite often. This is, of course, unofficial, as by rule, FSU cannot disseminate a recruiting board to the media or public.

Please note that there are some players FSU has offered who are not on the recruiting board. In our estimation, FSU's chance with those players is so remote that it does not make much sense to add them.

Click on the player's name for more information, including a scouting report, if available. The board is tabbed by position.

Noles News 05.21.13: Vickers gets offer

2013-05-21T14:48:52Z

Morning. Here are some interesting news and notes concerning Florida State and college football in general.

The #Noles offered Jonathan Vickers, RB out of North Florida Christian this morning.
— TomahawkNation.com (@TomahawkNation) May 21, 2013

As he prepares for FSU return, Bobby Bowden reflects on career - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
As he prepares for his return for a Florida State football game, legendary coach Bobby Bowden speaks out on his career, his legacy and his retirement. Great read here from friend of TN, Andy Staples.

Behind FSU, Clemson, ACC out to shed reputation as a weak league - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
Behind Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech, the ACC enters the 2013 college football season out to shed its reputation as a weak BCS AQ conference.

2013 Kentucky football's 10 things to know: A zero-sum game with an Ohio exception - SBNation.com
New Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has passed his early tests with flying colors, recruiting well and drawing 50K to the Kentucky spring game. But the real tests begin in the fall, and the Wildcats likely have a few more to fail before they can become in

College bowl tie-ins: What if we made these games interesting? - SBNation.com
What if bowls were decided less by TV ratings and money and more by how incredible we can make the games? SB Nation examines what could happen if bowl games got real. This is pretty funny.

ACC Division Title Champs Face off in Season Finale

2013-05-20T20:00:10Z

Due to game cancellations earlier in the season Florida State and North Carolina decided to add an extra game which gets them both to a maximum of 56 on the season. It works out for both as FSU was on its way to North Carolina for the ACC tournament and UNC gets to play at home. At this point in the season North Carolina is a lock to be a national seed while catastrophic events would have to occur over the next 4 games for FSU to miss out on a national seed. The major reason behind this is that there are not many other deserving teams that could pass FSU for a national seed. If the Noles were to falter in the tournament like they did last season, 0-3, you can't penalize them for games that they are forced to play and still reward teams a national seed even though the don't compete in a conference tournament. This game should be great for college baseball fans everywhere and ESPN did the smart thing by picking it up and broadcasting it nationwide.

OFFENSE

Its not very often that the Seminoles go up against a team that is better than they are but the Tarheels have the best offense in the nation. They lead the country in scoring, almost 2 runs higher than conference average and are amazingly disciplined at the plate. North Carolina strikes out 6 percent less than league average while still having a tremendous slugging percentage, good for 10th in the country. The Seminoles held GT and UVA to under 6 runs per game and if that happens tonight even with Scott Sitz on the mound I would consider it a victory.

Florida State has two hitters who earned All ACC honors, freshman OF DJ Stewart (.328/.434/.513) and Junior catcher Stephen McGee (.299/.462/.534) who is also a Johnny Bench finalist. When McGee isn't asked to bunt he is the Noles best hitter. The Tarheels had three hitters earn All ACC honors, Colin Moran (.376/.504/.624), Cody Stubbs (.349/.472/.579) and Skye Bolt (.359/.472/.585). Junior 3B Colin Moran is one of the best players in college baseball and will be a 1st round pick next month in the amateur draft.

PITCHING

Part of being the best teams in the nation is having a great pitching staff on top of excellent hitting and going into this past weekend both UNC and FSU were extremely balanced. The North Carolina baseball team is poised to finish among the top five nationally in both team scoring and team ERA, a feat accomplished by only three other teams since 1989. Meanwhile Florida State went into last weekend 11th in scoring and 20th in ERA, one of the most balanced squads in the nation.

The Seminoles had to alter their rotation this past weekend to ensure that their starters had proper rest which meant Peter Miller started last Thursday. Only 1.1 innings pitched means that he should be well rested for tonight's game. It also doesn't give that much hope to FSU fans as he faces the best offense in the country. Florida State does not want to go into their bullpen early with the tournament right around the corner.

Freshman Chris Munnely is making his first start since May 8th where he faced James Madison in a weekday game. Since then he has made a few relief appearences, most recently this past Saturday against UVA where he allowed 2 runs on 2 hits in an inning pitched. The right hander has no starts in conference play this season but does have pretty impressive numbers, a H/9 under 5 is tremendous but a BB/9 ratio above 4 could get him in trouble against a very patient Noles lineup.

Any time two of the best teams in the nation face each other you would expect a good game and tonight should be no different. UNC is the better overall team ~~but FSU has the pitching advantage~~ . Regardless of the outcome both of these teams have an excellent shot of seeing each other again in Omaha.

ALL ACC TEAM

Earlier today the All ACC Teams were released and for the most part coaches did a good job. I am not going to argue the 1st or 2nd team offense because it is pretty easy to identify who put up the best numbers at their respective position. What I do take issue with is the laziness of choosing starting pitching based on ERA and wins. Without getting on a sabermetric soapbox I will let you know that those are the 2 stats that have the least correlation to a pitcher's performance.

UVA's reliever Kyle Crockett had one of the most dominant seasons I've ever seen out of a reliever. Carlos Rodon is a guy who went into the season with immense expectations that fell short when you are comparing his sophomore season to his freshman season. He still led the country in K/9 and was a horse throwing nearly 100 innings. I have no real issues with him earning this award. Kent Emmanuel and Buck Farmer combined for nearly 200 innings, both had great seasons, and are some of the best ACC pitchers the league has seen in the last decade. However I believe their name recognition helped and past accolades helped them but they are still deserving. Bryan Radziewski was the only Hurricane to make the two teams and that may or may not have had some influence when voting took place. Despite not throwing as many innings as the previous pitchers mentioned I believe his numbers are good enough to warrant a 1st team award.

Florida State had a starting pitcher on the 1st and 2nd team and there is no reason to complain about that but I really think the coaches got lazy here and chose the wrong guy. Scott Sitz's transformation into a great starter has been wonderful and I know he get's a lot of attention with his mustache but he is not the best pitcher on this team. This is what I think happens when voters look at the stat sheets.

Scott Sitz actually gave up more runs that Weaver did this season, like 12 more, now this wasn't entirely his fault because at some point in the season opposing teams had score like 21 runs but only 3 were earned. Now I don't expect voters to have spread sheets upon spreadsheets but at this point they should be able to see that these two pitchers threw the same amount of innings which means comparing every other stat they have should be easy.

You know what the difference in ERA is among these two over the course of ~77 innings? Four, Sitz allowed 4 less runs than Weaver but when you look at every other category he was better, significantly better is some instances. I was reviewing some numbers this past weekend and Weaver ranks 20th overall in K:BB ratio but more impressively he ranks 4th among pitchers who have a K/9 greater than 9.00. Two of those pitchers are from non-power conferences, the other is Aaron Nola. Now I know with the way things go in the ACC we should just be happy that both of these pitchers made the team but Luke Weaver is quietly having one of the best seasons in college baseball. Rant over, I really shouldn't expect college coaches, especially head coaches with as much experience as there is in the ACC to look too in depth into the numbers because they basically vote off what they can remember in past games.

ACC TOURNAMENT

The Noles had the tournament locked up a couple weeks back while Miami was rejoicing Thursday night after a win secured their spot. I'll repeat, Miami was not rejoicing about making a national seed, not rejoicing about securing a host site but by merely making the ACC tournament. Some fans claim that Florida State is in the tougher bracket and that may or may not be true but when your conference tournament boasts 8 of the top 20 RPI teams it really doesn't matter. Below is a full schedule of the games.

Florida State plays on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. All games will be on ESPN3 and RSN, here is an affiliate list for your region. Expect a full preview later on this week. Should be a great one tonight starting at 6PM.

Go Noles!