Fresh off of it’s 5-0 win against a top 25 Florida team Florida State gets no rest and will face a top 10 team in the Louisville Cardinals. Much like last weekend FSU will face an offensive oriented team that is one of the best in the country (the ACC owns five of the top team batting averages in the country) and will need it’s pitchers to fair better than what they did in Atlanta.
The Louisville is headlined by it’s two, three, four hitters in Ben Metzinger, Cameron Masterman and Dalton Rushing as all three have over 10 home runs on the season and are slugging over .650. Not to be outdone most of the UL lineup slugs over .500 and hits for average. Much like the Georgia Tech lineup there isn’t much let up throughout the roster. On the plus side the best bats in the Cardinals lineup have a bit of swing and miss in them but they also walk a lot so they are seeing a lot of pitches. Expect Louisville to be selectively aggressive on the base paths.
Friday starter Tate Kuehner has struggled as of late. He hasn’t pitched six innings since early March giving up eight runs in two innings against North Carolina and six runs in four innings against Pitt. The Louisville defense hasn’t helped him out a ton in those outings but Kuehner doesn’t strike out a lot of batters so he needs to rely on that defense.
Saturday starter Jared Poland has the look of a Friday starter. A high strikeout rate and not a lot of walks Poland has looked quite good since moving from the midweek role. Kind of the opposite trajectory as Kuehner, Poland has thrown at least six innings in every game since early March and just before moving into the weekend rotation he threw six innings of two hit ball against TCU. It’s apparent Poland understands the lineup on his team and is not afraid to attack hitters.
Similarly Sunday starter Riley Phillips will challenge FSU batters from the left instead of the right side. Phillips has done his job as a Sunday starter eating up innings and keeping the Cardinals close enough for their offense to bludgeon teams into submission. Phillips has good strike out numbers on the year and doesn’t allow free passes.
Thursday 4/14, 7:00 PM
Probable Starters: LHP Parker Messick (4-2, 3.33 ERA) vs. LHP Tate Kuehner (4-2, 4.84 ERA)
How to watch: ACCNX
How to listen: 100.7 FM in Tallahassee
Friday 4/15, 7:00 PM
Probable Starters: LHP Bryce Hubbart (5-1, 2.98 ERA) vs. RHP Jared Poland (2-1, 2.84 ERA)
How to watch: ACCNX
How to listen: 100.7 FM in Tallahassee
Saturday 4/16, 1:00 PM
Probable Starters: LHP Ross Dunn (1-3, 4.11 ERA) vs. LHP Riley Phillips (3-1, 3.60 ERA)
How to watch: ACCN
How to listen: 100.7 FM in Tallahassee
Louisville top performers
- LF Cameron Masterman: .344 AVG/ .687 SLG/ 12 HR
- 3B Ben Metzinger: .336 AVG/ .702 SLG/ 13 HR
- 1B Dalton Rushing: .299 AVG/ .673 SLG/ 11 HR
- SS Christian Knapczyk: .356 AVG/ .515 SLG/ 14-17 SB
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