14d ago baseball Edit

Jamie Arnold 'should be in good shape' to start FSU's opener vs. Tennessee

Jamie Arnold threw 121 pitches in Saturday's Super Regional against UConn. (Bob Ferrante)

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

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Link Jarrett turned to Carson Dorsey to start the regional and Super Regional. While he wasn't definitive about FSU's game 1 starter in the College World Series, Jarrett stated that Jamie Arnold "should be in good shape" when the Seminoles face Tennessee on Friday (7 p.m. on ESPN).

"Jamie should be in good shape to open," Jarrett said Wednesday, shortly before the team boarded a bus for the flight to Omaha. "He had a real good bullpen today. We'll probably go in that direction. When you play every other day, it's different. The format of this is different. You're used to the Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday. All of a sudden, you know it's Friday, Sunday."

Arnold (11-3, 2.77 ERA) has 155 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 100.2 innings. He has been FSU's most consistent pitcher and, in the back half of the season, the starter on Friday nights or in series openers.

If he pitches on Friday in Omaha, Arnold will be doing so on one less day of rest and after throwing a season-high 121 pitches. But Arnold has also thrown 100 or more pitches in his 17 starts this spring.

Dorsey (7-4, 4.67 ERA) would then be available for FSU's second game, which will be on Sunday against North Carolina or Virginia.

"They can just go shove and carve — that's what I want them to do," Jarrett said.

What could prove beneficial for FSU (47-15), which has had some stars in the bullpen like Connor Hults and Brennen Oxford but also shaky outings from others, is the amount of built-in off days. The Seminoles know they will have an off day on Saturday, and the often-fickle summer weather forecast for Omaha that day also calls for a 55 percent chance of thunderstorms.

"The ability of the relief pitchers to bounce back is a huge difference in how this tournament is structured," Jarrett said. "And it's a big deal. Guys that throw a little bit on Friday, you're off Saturday. They can rest and recover. And that goes for everybody. It's not like that's an advantage solely for us. But it does change things a little bit."

The importance of winning game 1 is critical if a team is to advance out of the four-team pool play and into the best-of-three championship series.

"Clearly getting off to a good start is huge," Jarrett said. "When he's on his game, he's as good as anybody I've ever seen."