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Florida State Seminoles vs Georgia Southern Eagles: Preview and Game Thread

The Seminoles need five more wins to make it Omaha and that starts tonight at 6PM in Dick Howser Stadium. We have previewd the field of 64, the regional opponets and each game in great detail, you can get caught up in our stream. Georgia Sourthen is a difficult four seed and the Noles will be tested with tonight's winner facing Kennesaw State who won 1-0 earlier against Alabama.

OFFENSE:

2014 SEASON STATISTICS - OVERALL
TEAM GP SB % K% BB% Rsco% R/G AVG OBP SLG OPS BABIP IsoP
Florida State 58 79.2% 17.6% 13.2% 39.6% 6.7 0.278 0.394 0.387 0.781 0.335 0.109
Georgia Southern 60 72.7% 17.4% 10.0% 40.9% 6.7 0.289 0.372 0.432 0.804 0.333 0.143
as of 5/29/14

As mentioned in the regional preview article both of these teams have extremely potent offenses. There is no questioning the Seminoles but just how much of the Eagles numbers are inflated because they play in a weak conference. If you compare the pitching the Southern Conference walks over four batters per nine whereas the ACC is at 3.6 while the strikeout to walk ratio is at 2.1 for the ACC and 1.8 for the Southern. The number that really stands out is the amount of homeruns allowed, Southern Conference pitchers surrendered a homerun every 55 at bats, that is nearly twice as frequent as the ACC who only allowed a homerun every 102 at bats. I don't want to discredit this offense because I am sure they are talented but have they have not played at the highest level like the Seminoles have.

Florida State is led by the ACC Player of the Year DJ Stewart (.348/.469/.561) and are protected by fellow first teamers in John Nogowski (.311/.433/.451) and Jose Brizuela (.325/.407/.453). The Noles are constantly on base as they lead the nation in walks, which constantly pressures opposing pitchers lending them to score as many runs as they do.

Georgia Southern is currently tied for fourth in the country with an impressive 59 homeruns this season. There are seven players on the lineup that have hit at least five homeruns on the season, for reference Florida State only has two. Aaron Mizell (.313/.390/.545) and Stryker Brown (.325/.409/.522) are the team's best bats who have combined to hit 23 homeruns and look to take advantage of the short right field fence that favors left handed hitters.

2014 SEASON STATISTICS - FLORIDA STATE
TEAM GP GS PA SB % K% BB% Rsco% R/G AVG OBP SLG OPS BABIP IsoP
John Nogowski 58 57 261 50.0% 10.0% 16.1% 38.9% 0.8 0.311 0.433 0.451 0.884 0.326 0.141
Jose Brizuela 58 58 250 86.7% 14.8% 8.4% 42.9% 0.8 0.325 0.407 0.453 0.860 0.375 0.127
Justin Gonzalez 54 54 249 60.0% 26.5% 18.5% 39.4% 0.8 0.246 0.410 0.398 0.808 0.352 0.152
John Sansone 58 58 246 75.0% 23.2% 11.4% 40.2% 0.6 0.228 0.365 0.326 0.691 0.300 0.098
DJ Stewart 51 51 239 80.0% 12.6% 15.9% 36.2% 0.9 0.348 0.469 0.561 1.030 0.374 0.214
Josh Delph 56 51 231 50.0% 13.0% 14.7% 37.8% 0.6 0.275 0.393 0.360 0.753 0.323 0.085
Danny De La Calle 56 56 205 100.0% 16.6% 8.3% 42.2% 0.5 0.229 0.322 0.247 0.569 0.279 0.018
Ben DeLuzio 49 48 200 88.9% 22.0% 9.5% 46.5% 0.7 0.287 0.369 0.407 0.776 0.373 0.120
Casey Smit 53 35 181 75.0% 17.7% 18.2% 31.2% 0.5 0.300 0.436 0.336 0.771 0.373 0.036
Brett Knief 53 40 179 100.0% 17.3% 8.9% 40.7% 0.5 0.270 0.353 0.342 0.695 0.325 0.072
Jameis Winston 23 5 48 #DIV/0! 18.8% 16.7% 42.9% 0.3 0.132 0.298 0.184 0.482 0.172 0.053
Gage West 25 4 36 #DIV/0! 25.0% 8.3% 66.7% 0.2 0.167 0.222 0.467 0.689 0.136 0.300
Ladson Montgomery 27 2 31 #DIV/0! 9.7% 12.9% 21.4% 0.1 0.320 0.452 0.360 0.812 0.364 0.040
Hank Truluck 21 3 27 100.0% 22.2% 25.9% 21.4% 0.1 0.316 0.519 0.368 0.887 0.462 0.053
Nick Graganella 32 0 16 #DIV/0! 50.0% 18.8% ##### 0.2 0.231 0.375 0.231 0.606 0.600 0.000
Lee Howard 7 0 5 #DIV/0! 40.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.400 0.333 0.000
Matt Mulroy 4 0 3 #DIV/0! 0.0% 0.0% ##### 0.5 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Gage Smith 2 0 2 #DIV/0! 50.0% 0.0% ##### 0.0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Peter Miller 2 0 1 #DIV/0! 0.0% 0.0% ##### 0.0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
TOTALS 58 58 2410 86.4% 17.6% 13.2% 39.6% 6.7 0.278 0.394 0.387 0.781 0.335 0.109
as of 5/29/14
2014 SEASON STATISTICS - GEORGIA SOUTHERN
TEAM GP GS PA SB % K% BB% Rsco% R/G AVG OBP SLG OPS BABIP IsoP
Mizell, Aaron 58 58 272 88.9% 13.6% 8.5% 31.2% 0.7 0.313 0.390 0.545 0.935 0.317 0.232
Adams, Kody 55 54 250 78.6% 16.0% 10.0% 43.3% 0.8 0.304 0.389 0.444 0.833 0.355 0.140
Morgan, Ben 56 53 244 75.9% 16.4% 12.3% 40.2% 0.7 0.286 0.383 0.414 0.797 0.329 0.128
Brown, Stryker 57 56 243 68.8% 8.2% 11.9% 40.4% 0.8 0.325 0.409 0.522 0.931 0.320 0.196
Griffin, Chase 56 53 237 66.7% 16.5% 8.9% 37.2% 0.6 0.266 0.345 0.377 0.721 0.311 0.111
Cleveland, Ryan 52 52 233 60.0% 21.0% 13.7% 37.5% 0.7 0.254 0.369 0.430 0.799 0.305 0.176
Chapman, Garrett 56 56 230 60.0% 22.2% 5.2% 42.7% 0.8 0.346 0.387 0.472 0.859 0.427 0.126
Busby, Dalton 50 50 209 77.8% 16.7% 6.7% 46.0% 0.6 0.274 0.320 0.392 0.713 0.314 0.118
Thomas, Hunter 37 22 111 80.0% 22.5% 14.4% 29.3% 0.4 0.256 0.382 0.344 0.726 0.338 0.089
Palmer, Garren 36 21 108 25.0% 23.1% 4.6% 46.9% 0.6 0.295 0.349 0.526 0.875 0.343 0.232
Palmer, Aaron 20 20 86 66.7% 19.8% 23.3% 31.7% 0.7 0.306 0.482 0.355 0.837 0.413 0.048
Brazil, C.J. 25 15 68 100.0% 13.2% 5.9% 73.7% 0.6 0.217 0.284 0.233 0.517 0.250 0.017
Black, Josh 30 16 57 75.0% 29.8% 10.5% 63.2% 0.4 0.260 0.339 0.280 0.619 0.394 0.020
Baker, Cal 10 8 34 100.0% 23.5% 11.8% 62.5% 0.5 0.107 0.242 0.107 0.350 0.150 0.000
Dodds, Robbie 15 5 32 100.0% 15.6% 3.1% 60.0% 0.4 0.290 0.313 0.387 0.700 0.346 0.097
Streicher, Kyle 15 1 12 100.0% 41.7% 16.7% ##### 0.2 0.000 0.250 0.000 0.250 0.000 0.000
Williams, Wes 2 0 2 #DIV/0! 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5 1.000 1.000 2.500 3.500 1.000 1.500
Richman, Jason 45 1 1 #DIV/0! ##### 0.0% ##### 0.0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 ##### 0.000
TOTALS 60 60 2429 78.6% 17.4% 10.0% 40.9% 6.7 0.289 0.372 0.432 0.804 0.333 0.143
as of 5/29/14

PITCHING:

2014 SEASON STATISTICS - OVERALL
TEAM G IP ERA WHIP H/9 K/9 BB/9 K:BB FIP xERA BABIP BAA OPSa
Florida State 54 525.0 3.02 1.20 7.83 7.20 3.00 2.40 3.58 2.96 0.287 0.236 0.627
Georgia Southern 60 538.0 3.16 1.28 8.60 7.75 2.96 2.62 3.75 3.52 0.307 0.251 0.671
as of 5/29/14

The Seminoles received some fantastic news this week as starting pitcher Brandon Leibrandt (39.1 IP/1.02 WHIP/6.86 K/9) will see action for the first time in two months. While he probably won't start seeing him pitch in any capacity is a huge pitch for the Noles chances of reaching Omaha. Luke Weaver (101.1 IP/1.04 WHIP/7.19 K/9)  will more than likely be a top 50 draft pick next week while reliever Gage Smith (60.1 IP/0.94 WHIP/4.62 K/9) can be used in just about every situation. This staff is coming off a great ACC tournament in which they allowed 6 earned runs on 21 hits in 26 innings striking out 23 and issuing 8 walks.

There are some quality arms on the Eagles staff, they have the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year in right hander Josh Wirsu (92.2 IP/1.12 WHIP/8.55 K/9)  and a projected early round pick in Sam Howard (86.2 IP/1.12 WHIP/8.72 K/9) , both have been used as the ace this season. If they can throw deep in the game Georgia Southern can turn the ball over to Jason Richman (84.2 IP/1.12 WHIP/8.40 K/9) who leads the nation with 46 appearances.

PROBABLES:
PITCHING PROBABLES - GAME 2 - Florida State vs. Georgia Southern
TEAM G GS IP ERA WHIP H/9 K/9 BB/9 K:BB HR/9 FIP BABIP BAA OPSa
Sam Howard - GSU 15 14 86.7 2.60 1.12 8.20 8.72 1.87 4.67 0.52 2.96 0.311 0.245 0.619
Mike Compton - FSU 14 14 82.3 3.06 1.29 9.62 5.47 1.97 2.78 0.33 3.48 0.313 0.272 0.679

Georgia Southern has the conference pitcher of the year on their staff, he is not starting tonight's game and rightfully so. He is not the best pitcher on this team, that honor goes to left hander Sam Howard who is an excellent prospect who will probably be drafted in the first few rounds of the amateur draft next week. The first stat that jumps of the page is his strikeout to walk ratio which is very high for a pitcher who strikes out as many as he does, not walking hitters will be key for him.  Other numbers that stand out are 53, 59, 74, 101, 141, 168, 173, 187, 196, 210, 221, 292, 298, those are the RPI's of the teams he has faced this season, not a single one made the tournament. Who you play matters, last season I wrote an article about Kyle McGowin and who he faced all season, McGowin struggled and Savannah State lost. Now I will absoutley concede that Georgia Southern is much better than Savannah State but to think that Howard will shut down Noles hitters because of his season's sucess season be a tough task.

Florida State's Mike Compton has a tough task ahead of him tonight as he faces an very strong lineup. The right hander is by no means a power arm with a lot of strikeouts, he relies on throwing a heavy ball and allowing runners to put the ball in play and trust his defense. This type of pitchers allows a high number of hits and Compton can get himself into trouble if he leaves the ball elevated. Compton has pitched at least five innings and allowed two or less runs in his last six starts, an outing like that today would be just fine. If he does get into trouble early look for Gage Smith or possibly Billy Strode who will be available from the pen if needed. Mike Martin, Jr. said today that Brandon Leibrandt is good to go and is available to start, he also mentioned that Jameis Winston could throw three straight days if needed and depending on the situation.

2014 SEASON STATISTICS - FLORIDA STATE
TEAM G GS IP ERA WHIP H/9 K/9 BB/9 K:BB HR/9 FIP BABIP BAA OPSa
Luke Weaver 15 15 101.3 2.66 1.04 7.37 7.19 1.95 3.68 0.62 3.49 0.266 0.224 0.582
Mike Compton 14 14 82.3 3.06 1.29 9.62 5.47 1.97 2.78 0.33 3.48 0.313 0.272 0.679
Gage Smith 38 0 60.3 2.09 0.94 7.76 4.62 0.75 6.20 0.15 3.06 0.268 0.234 0.548
Billy Strode 23 4 45.3 2.78 1.21 6.95 8.93 3.97 2.25 0.00 3.16 0.318 0.226 0.582
Peter Miller 17 7 42.0 5.14 1.64 8.14 11.36 6.64 1.71 0.64 4.11 0.354 0.247 0.725
Brandon Leibrandt 6 6 39.3 1.83 1.02 7.09 6.86 2.06 3.33 0.46 3.32 0.264 0.218 0.608
Bryant Holtmann 14 6 36.7 3.68 1.17 7.61 7.12 2.95 2.42 0.49 3.53 0.271 0.228 0.610
Jameis Winston 23 0 30.7 1.17 0.78 5.28 8.51 1.76 4.83 0.00 2.12 0.220 0.164 0.396
Dylan Silva 17 1 23.7 1.90 1.27 6.08 10.65 5.32 2.00 0.00 3.59 0.291 0.195 0.630
Taylor Blatch 14 2 17.3 6.23 1.85 6.75 5.71 9.87 0.58 0.52 7.05 0.235 0.210 0.748
Alec Byrd 9 1 14.7 3.68 1.50 8.59 7.98 4.91 1.63 1.23 5.26 0.300 0.259 0.804
Brandon Johnson 11 0 13.7 1.98 1.32 9.22 5.93 2.63 2.25 0.00 2.98 0.280 0.241 0.544
Kenny Burkhead 10 2 10.7 8.44 2.06 14.35 6.75 4.22 1.60 0.84 4.55 0.432 0.370 1.018
Jim Voyles 5 0 6.7 4.05 1.35 9.45 4.05 2.70 1.50 1.35 6.27 0.286 0.280 0.779
TOTALS 58 58 524.7 3.02 1.20 7.84 7.20 3.00 2.40 0.39 3.58 0.287 0.236 0.627
as of 5/29/14
2014 SEASON STATISTICS - GEORGIA SOUTHERN
TEAM G GS IP ERA WHIP H/9 K/9 BB/9 K:BB HR/9 FIP BABIP BAA OPSa
Wirsu, Josh 15 15 92.7 2.33 1.12 6.70 8.55 3.40 2.51 0.39 3.41 0.258 0.201 0.542
Howard, Sam 15 14 86.7 2.60 1.12 8.20 8.72 1.87 4.67 0.52 2.96 0.311 0.245 0.619
Richman, Jason 45 1 84.7 1.06 1.12 8.40 7.65 1.70 4.50 0.21 2.84 0.306 0.242 0.614
McCall, Matt 38 3 64.3 4.20 1.23 8.25 8.25 2.80 2.95 0.84 4.10 0.303 0.248 0.720
Frederick, Ryan 22 10 51.3 3.68 1.32 9.29 6.84 2.63 2.60 0.88 4.45 0.310 0.268 0.748
Alonzo, Eric 26 3 50.0 3.78 1.30 9.18 7.02 2.52 2.79 0.54 3.84 0.310 0.260 0.674
Jackson, Will 13 5 30.7 3.52 1.40 10.27 6.16 2.35 2.63 0.59 3.78 0.337 0.289 0.743
Sheppard, Tripp 22 0 20.7 5.23 1.55 10.89 6.10 3.05 2.00 0.87 4.92 0.354 0.309 0.823
Middour, Will 7 7 19.7 5.95 1.98 10.53 6.41 7.32 0.88 0.92 6.67 0.339 0.299 0.918
Fagan, Avery 9 1 13.0 2.08 1.46 9.00 9.69 4.15 2.33 0.00 2.88 0.333 0.245 0.579
Pressey, Caleb 9 1 10.0 10.80 2.90 16.20 6.30 9.90 0.64 0.00 5.62 0.462 0.391 0.952
Yelverton, Byron 9 0 6.3 2.84 1.42 5.68 4.26 7.11 0.60 0.00 5.79 0.190 0.190 0.593
Riley, Patrick 3 0 4.0 2.25 1.75 4.50 6.75 11.25 0.60 0.00 5.67 0.200 0.154 0.543
Kelly, Adam 2 0 2.0 4.50 1.00 9.00 13.50 0.00 ##### 4.50 6.92 0.250 0.250 0.875
Taylor, Clint 2 0 1.3 13.50 2.25 13.50 20.26 6.75 3.00 0.00 1.17 0.667 0.333 0.929
TOTALS 60 60 537.3 3.17 1.29 8.61 7.76 2.96 2.62 0.54 3.75 0.307 0.251 0.671
as of 5/29/14

COVERAGE:

All of your coverage links can be found in this easy access site provided by Florida State. We will have you covered with updates in this thread but we cannot give you a play by play due to NCAA rules. Please remember not to post any picture or embed tweets.

Florida State is completely healthy and is on top of their game right now, given this and Georgia Southern's lack of competition the Noles should be victorious. See everyone at 6PM

Go Noles!