Florida State Seminoles and Florida Gators face off in the NCAA Baseball Super Regionals

This is what fans have been clamoring for, a weekend series with rival Florida with high stakes. The winner of this series will not only have in-state bragging right for the next year but they will have also earned a trip to Omaha. The last times these two teams met in a Super Regional was 2005 when Florida swept Florida State and earned their first birth in a College World Series.

Both of these teams are playing extremely well. They are both on a seven game winning streaks, they both won their conference tournaments, and they both went 3-0 in the regional that they hosted. Florida State won the "season series" this year, but playing three midweek games is not a great predictor of how this series will end up. The Gators have been in the top ten pretty much all season and are absolutely loaded with talent while Florida State has hung around in the 10-20 range this year and have exceeded expectations in what was thought to be a rebuilding year.

OFFENSES:

Both of these teams have excellent offenses scoring 6.8 runs per game which puts them with a handful of teams for 21st best in the country. The both do it with a slightly different approach; the Noles are a patient team that gets on base frequently via the walk, while the Gators hit their way on and hit for power. Florida is ranked 21st in slugging and there are only four teams left in play that have a higher slugging then they do. What is truly remarkable about their power is that they do it without striking out very much, it will be interesting to see how they fare this weekend as Florida State has the fifth highest strikeout rate in the nation.

Neither team relies on small ball to score runs. Florida has 21 sac bunts on the season and Florida State has 25, ranking them 258 and 232 respectively. The Gators, however, are more aggressive on the base paths but do not have any greater success than the Seminoles. Base runners might be at a premium this weekend so it will be interesting to see just how much the coaches run given that both catchers have been very solid behind the plate.

The entire offense revolves around DJ Stewart in the number three spot. He is one of six players in the country to have reached base 50 percent of the time this season. He walks once in every four times he steps to the plate but has also hit 13 homeruns this season. For Florida State to be successful this weekend and beyond, the hitters behind him have to make pitchers pay if they decide to pitch around Stewart. In the three games in regionals, Nieporte and Marconcini had only 5 hits in 27 plate appearances. Now, 2 of those hits were homeruns, but the fact still remains that the big hitters need to come through.

Florida State is also shuffling its third baseman due to Dylan Busby's struggles at the plate. The freshman is just three strikeouts shy of the team record and has not put many productive at bats together in recent weeks, which is why Darren Miller got the start in two of the regional games. Another freshman, Taylor Walls had a nice regional, going 5 for 11 with a walk and has been moved up in the order. Bolstering the lineup is Ben Deluzio who has been Florida State's hottest player as of late, the sophomore has 12 hits in his last 6 games, he had 13 hits in the 20 previous games.

There is not much let up in this lineup, as their 8 and 9 hitters both possess an on-base percentage of .400 or better. Two big threats are Harrison Bader (14 HRs) and freshman JJ Schwartz (15 HRs) and they might not be the best hitters in the lineup. Josh Tobias has the highest OPS on the team and went 4 for 10 with 2 walks this past weekend. Peter Alonso and Jeremy Vasquez are hot hitters right as both had great regionals, Vasquez went 7-12 with a walk and Alonso went 4-11 with 3 walks.

Taking a look at the numbers since these two teams last met and Florida State came out on top with a 4-3 win the Seminoles have actually posted better numbers. The Gators went went 19-6 with the Noles going 17-7 over the same span.

The Florida Gators have some extremely talented arms on their pitching staff and their numbers reflect that. They are better than league average in every category and what is really impressive and could be trouble for Florida State is their high strikeout to walk ratio which ranks 10th in the nation. What makes Florida State so tough is they strike out almost 9 batters per 9, good enough for 6th in the country.

Friday starter Boomer Biegalski has really emerged as a legitimate ace. Since the postseason began Biegalski has made 3 appearances, allowed 2 runs over 19.2 innings while striking out 20 and issuing 3 walks. Game Two and Three starters have not been named yet and it will probably be dependent on the outcome of game one. If the Noles drop Game One it would be my guess Drew Carlton gets the start as the freshman is coming off his best start of the season where he shutout Charleston for 6.2 innings while striking out nine. Should Florida State win the opener I believe Mike Compton would get the start, and the right hander can be effective with his tremendous strikeout to walk ratio.

The Seminoles relief pitchers were fantastic in the regional games, problem is only two of them pitched. Dylan Silva has really turned the corner and has been pitching lights out over the last two weeks. Closer Billy Strode has also been dynamic having not allowed a run in his last 6 appearances and only allowing 2 hits. No other pitcher outside of those two has made a start since Bryant Holtmann on May 24th in the ACC Tournament.

The Noles will have to handle Logan Shore on Friday night who isn't overpowering but does not issue walks and allows the opposing batters to put the ball in play and trusts his stellar defense. AJ Puk, on the other hand, has some of the best stuff in the nation as his fastball is in the mid 90's. He ranks third in the country in strikeouts per nine and given the high frequency in which the Noles lineup strikeouts out base runners could be tough to come by. The Sunday starter would more than likely be freshman Alex Faedo who has had an excellent rookie season.

The Gator Bullpen is just loaded with arms. Bobby Poyner has allowed just 6 walks in over 54 innings this season while striking out a batter per inning. Although not as dynamic, Taylor Lewis and Kirby Snead have been work horses and provide reliable arms for Florida .

While Florida State's offense has had a slight edge since the last time the two met, the Florida pitching staff is finally healthy and pitching extremely well. Another edge the Gators have is their defense, Florida has the top fielding percentage in the nation and have only committed 35 errors all season. The Seminole defense on the other hand has committed more than twice that with 87 and has been a concern all season. Florida is too good of a team to be giving them extra outs.

Game 64 - at Florida June 5

First Pitch: 7:30 p.m. ET
FSU Starter: RHP, Boomer Biegalski (7-4, 2.80 ERA)
UF Starter: RHP, Logan Shore (8-6, 2.64 ERA)

Game 65 - at Florida June 6

First Pitch: 5:00 p.m. ET
FSU Starter: TBA
UF Starter: LHP, A.J. Puk (9-3, 3.80 ERA)

Game 66 - at Florida June 7
First Pitch: 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. ET
FSU Starter: TBA
UF Starter: TBA

All games can be heard locally on 106.1 FM - Tallahassee with the first and second game on ESPN2 with the third game on either ESPNU or ESPN2.

The hope here for Florida State is that this is a competitive series and that the Noles can even win a game. The Gators have the better rotation, better bullpen, better lineup and better defense, but this is baseball and anything can happen in a three game series. I am not predicting the Seminoles to advance, but if they do it would only further confirm what a great job Coach Martin has done this season.

Florida State lost two of their three weekend starters early to the draft, lost two of their three best hitters early to the draft and lost their two top bullpen arms. On a roster of about 30 players, Florida State lost 6 of their 7 best players and still were able to have a successful season that exceeded some expectations. It should be a great weekend of baseball and we will have all your coverage right here.

Go Noles!