Florida State baseball looks to turn things around against Stetson

After a very underwhelming performance by Florida State (23-11, 10-4) this past weekend, they will look to turn things around from in-state opponent Stetson (17-18, 1-5). The Hatters will be the fifth opponent that the 'Noles face from the state of Florida. They are coming off a weekend in which they got swept on the road at UNF while FSU won one of three games on the road against a sub-par Wake Forest team.

Stetson is not a particularly well hitting team, with their team leader hitting .284. To put that in perspective, there are five Seminoles with higher batting averages. With that team leading .284 average is Austin Hale who is coming into this weekend five for his last 14. Leading the Hatters in home runs is outfielder Cory Reid who has hit four with the last coming five games ago. He also comes in riding a hot bat with a five game hitting streak still in tact. Out of the bullpen, closer Walker Sheller has been nothing short of spectacular this season. The righty has seven saves to the tune of a 0.68 ERA in 26 1/3 innings pitched.

After a poor performance at the plate by Florida State this weekend, they will look to turn it around with a little tweak to the lineup. On Sunday, freshman outfielder Jackson Lueck hit third with Cal Raleigh shifting to the cleanup hole. Lueck continued his success at the plate against the Demon Deacons' going 4-11 with 6 RBI, bringing his season average to .457. John Sansone hit his fifth home run of the season during that series and enters the matchup against Stetson leading the team in batting average (.387), hits (53), RBI (44) and has only struck out 13 times in 161 plate appearances. Out of the 'pen, the Voyles brothers continue their dominance. Jim has the better ERA of the twins with a 1.08 mark in 33 1/3 innings pitch while Ed is not too far behind touting a 1.93 ERA in 28 innings pitched.

On Tuesday, Coach Mike Martin will send out lefty freshman Tyler Holton (0-2, 3.86 ERA) who will be looking for his first win of the season, and his career, against Stetson's RHP Joey Gonzalez (3-0, 3.32 ERA). This will be Holton's fifth start of the season and has struggled with his command, throwing 17 walks in just under 23 innings. He does have excellent pitches though, striking out 32 batters this year. Gonzalez will be making his first start of the season after 13 appearances out of the bullpen. He has been on a hot streak, only allowing an earned run in one of his last eight appearances. In 19 innings, the freshman has struck out 23 batters and has a WHIP of 1.00.

In the series finale on Wednesday, RHP Andrew Karp (0-0, 12.60 ERA) will be making his first collegiate start in a Seminoles uniform pitching against LHP Adam Schaly (1-2, 4.72 ERA). Karp is coming off a rough outing against Wake Forest where he gave up a grand slam in relief. In his five innings pitched, the Winter Garden native has given up 10 hits, walked two and struck out five. For Stetson, Schaly will make his fifth start of the season, giving up nine runs in 16 2/3 innings pitched in those games he has started. He has excellent command, only walking five batters in 26 2/3 innings pitched and has struck out 28 along the way.

Game one will get started tonight at 6 PM with the series finale beginning at 4 PM tomorrow. Both games will be played at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, and as always, Tomahawk Nation will have full coverage for the full series.