4/24/2023 baseball Edit

After snapping streak of close losses, FSU baseball looks to build momentum

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

If it feels like it had been weeks since the Florida State baseball team had won a close game before Sunday, you’re not wrong.

The Seminoles’ 4-3 win over Virginia Tech in the series finale snapped a nine-game losing streak. Likely an even bigger relief for the Seminoles was the fact that Sunday’s win also snapped a streak of 10 straight FSU losses in games decided by two or less runs.

While it’s a bright spot in what has been a painfully dark stretch for FSU, it did allow for at least a moment to dwell on a close win before the Seminoles host Stetson (24-17, 12-6 in A-Sun) Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium (ACC Network Extra).

“It’s nice to sit on a good vibe. It really is. Sometimes when you have to sit on it and it hasn’t been going great, you just fester a little bit. It is nice to regroup a little bit…” FSU head coach Link Jarrett said after Sunday’s win. “(Monday) will be really nice for the fellas.”

Since FSU beat Pitt 5-3 on March 11, the Seminoles have lost 21 of their last 24 games dating back to March 12, plummeting the Seminoles’ record to 14-25 (5-16 in ACC play) and all but assuring that FSU’s 44-year NCAA Tournament streak, which is tied for the NCAA record, will come to an end.

That statistic about close losses puts into perspective, though, that luck that has been working against the Seminoles. Nearly half of their 21 losses over this skid have been by two runs or less.

The concerns with this FSU pitching staff were well known entering the season. It was known the Seminoles were going to miss starting pitchers Parker Messick and Bryce Hubbart, who provided critical stability over the last two seasons in FSU’s weekend rotation.

What was maybe not anticipated enough was how badly FSU was going to miss its reliable relievers from the past few seasons like Jonah Scolaro, Davis Hare and Clayton Kwiatkowski.

Especially once Wyatt Crowell moved from high-leverage reliever to starting pitcher before he quickly suffered a season-ending elbow injury and then Connor Whittaker moved into the weekend rotation, FSU’s bullpen sorely lacked players you could rely on to protect late-game leads.

The week of April 10-16, FSU led in all four of its games at Florida and NC State. It won none of those four games because of its inability to protect late-game leads.

FSU’s pitchers who have been primarily relievers have combined to amass 14 of the team’s 25 losses this season. That’s compared to 11 total losses by FSU’s main three starting pitchers and five total saves this season by FSU’s pitching staff.

That’s what made Sunday’s stellar showing by the FSU bullpen against the Hokies so exceptional. Freshman Jamie Arnold replaced starting pitcher Carson Montgomery and threw three scoreless innings to protect FSU’s 4-3 lead, allowing just one baserunner on a walk.

Doug Kirkland, who has good stuff but has struggled with command this season, was put into the game in the eighth inning after the first two batters reached base. He retired the first three batters he faced to escape the jam and then retired the side in order for a stress-free ninth inning, striking out four of the six batters he faced.

“To walk out there in this situation and do it, that’s a huge step,” Jarrett said of Kirkland’s save. “Now we have to repeat it, whether it’s the ninth inning or the fifth or the seventh or whenever it is, that’s what it should look like.”

This FSU team hasn’t been good over the last six weeks and there’s no use trying to argue it has been. However, losing that many close games in a row extends beyond purely the talent on the field. There’s no denying the Seminoles have been unlucky as well, which has complicated its recent struggles with what has felt like every bounce going against them.

Nowhere was that more evident than FSU’s recent losses, with four of the team’s last five losses coming by exactly one run.

Even if the season is all but over – FSU is 3.5 games out of the ACC Tournament with nine games left and would need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament even if it made it there – there’s still plenty to play for.

The FSU roster should have a decent amount of turnover next season, but for whoever will be back, this final stretch could be big for building momentum entering the offseason.

Despite FSU’s struggles, Jarrett remains impressed with his team’s mentality.

“They’re still engaged and they work at it. It’s tough to go through this and you have so many young guys that are just trying to figure out what this is like at this level. That’s a piece of it, too,” Jarrett said. “We’re all new so some of the things that come up that we talk about and work on and drill, sometimes it takes awhile for them to actually feel it and see it in the games. They’re 100% into it.”