3 up, 3 down: Raleigh, Parrish propel FSU baseball to victory

The Seminoles pitching staff was too much for the Musketeers on Sunday. Sophomore Drew Parrish kept Xavier off balance all day while freshman Conor Grady and Jonah Scolaro came on in relief to secure the sweep.

Three up:

• Mike Salvatore has led off every game this season by reaching base safely. In fact, the entire FSU lineup has done an exceptional job of getting on base.
• Drew Parrish appears poised to pick up where he left off last season. In 2017, his regular-season high for strikeouts was seven, however in the Regional outing versus Tennessee Tech he racked up 12 K’s. With a little extra on his fastball on Sunday, Parrish fanned nine Musketeers batters. Xavier was unable to put together consistent quality at-bats against the sophomore.
• Freshman pitcher Conor Grady came on in relief of Parrish and looked terrific. He struck out the first four batters he faced after entering the game in the seventh inning. He pitched two innings and struck out five Musketeers on 25 pitches.

Three down:

• The Seminoles collected 21 RBI’s over the weekend — Drew Mendoza was not responsible for any of them. He’s 3-for-12 on the season with four strikeouts, two walks, and is hitless with RISP. He has crossed the plate four times but FSU needs more from the No. 3 hitter.
• Runs were not an issue for Florida State over the weekend, however, the club struggled to record hits on Sunday. Their five runs were scored with the benefit of only three hits. Walks have been FSU’s best friend early on this year. In fact, the Seminoles received 26 free passes over the weekend. That’s one less than the number of hits they had in the 3-game series. The lack of power (1 HR) is also a cause for concern.
• Struggles at the top of the order. The first four hitters in the FSU lineup on Sunday combined to go 1-for-17. The combination of Mike Salvatore (.091), Jackson Lueck (.154), Mendoza (.250), and Rhett Aplin (.231) have the lowest batting averages among starters.