It's not often college baseball teams get an entire weekend off.

But that's just what No. 4 Florida State (30-7, 11-4 ACC) got last weekend in the deeply tragic aftermath of the mass shooting on FSU campus April 17.

All three games of the scheduled home series vs. Virginia were canceled by Thursday afternoon, giving the Seminoles a rare weekend off from action.

About two-thirds of the way through the regular season, the unexpected weekend off could certainly serve as a bit of a mental and physical reset for the Seminoles ahead of the stretch run, which begins this weekend at No. 19 Louisville (28-12, 10-8).

"The break, in theory, you would think maybe that gives guys a little reset and a little rest..." Jarrett said Thursday. "From the pitching side, you hope the rest maybe refreshed some of the guys. You're at that point in the season where they've logged some innings, and so maybe Jamie (Arnold) and Joey (Volini) and Wes (Mendes) are a little bit more fresh."

Jarrett confirmed Thursday he'll keep FSU's typical weekend rotation order for the series at Louisville. Arnold (4-1, 2.40 ERA) will pitch on Friday, Volini (8-1, 2.39 ERA) on Saturday and Mendes (5-1, 3.83 ERA) in Sunday's series finale.

While a weekend off from throwing in games could help the pitchers recover a bit, it also could have the negative effect of affecting their pitch-count buildup. Going from 100-ish pitches that all three starters threw two weeks ago at Virginia Tech to a 20- or 30-pitch bullpen session back to a full pitch count could negatively impact the pitchers' success and also could increase the risk for injuries.

To counteract that, all three starters threw extended bullpen sessions over the last week to try and minimize the effects of that weekend without any games.

"(Pitching coach) Micah (Posey) was savvy enough to lengthen it out a little bit. Your bullpens normally could be 20 to 30 pitches. In this case, those guys threw a little bit more. It was almost two bullpens," Jarrett said. "You kind of build it so you're not completely going from 100 pitches to 25 to then try to go back to 85 to 100. I think we're in a good spot there, I really do. Micah has tremendous feel for how to manage those guys."

As for bullpen arms who didn't get to throw in Tuesday's 11-6 win over Stetson and could be approaching two-plus weeks since the last time they threw in a game, FSU had those relievers throw against live hitting during Wednesday's practice.

"We actually had some guys throw live yesterday to hitters just to see somebody in the box. And some of the hitters needed to see live pitching," Jarrett said. "You just have to build and try to create based on their role and Micah does a good job."

All of that has Jarrett confident that the positive effects of the layoff could be in play for the pitching staff without the possible drawbacks.

"I think we're OK," Jarrett said. "Is that a concern? Sure, but I don't think it's a huge roadblock this weekend for us."

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