Nole Your Enemy: An inside look at FSU's first CWS opponent, Tennessee
Florida State will certainly have its hands full with its first opponent in the College World Series on Friday (7 p.m. on ESPN).
The eighth-seeded Seminoles (47-15) will take on Tennessee (55-12), which won the SEC regular-season and tournament championships this season, earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Volunteers are the only team that begins the CWS with 50 wins this season. They lead the nation in home runs (173, 22 more than any other team) and are also third nationally in earned run average (3.83).
To get a better idea of the challenge that lies ahead for the Seminoles, I caught up with VolReport writer Ryan Sylvia, who covers Tennessee on the Rivals network to ask a few questions and get a few answers about the Vols.
Q: Tony Vitello has certainly built Tennessee into quite the baseball monster of late with three CWS trips in the last four years. What have been the biggest keys to his success leading the Volunteers pretty early in his tenure?
Sylvia: First of all, recruiting. Both at the high school level and out of the transfer portal, he’s brought in an incredible amount of talent. He joked yesterday that it’s guys like Blake Burke that make him look good, all he does is put him in the lineup. He’s also surrounded himself with great coaches. Frank Anderson is one of the most experienced pitching coaches in the country and has done a great job developing guys. Josh Elander is also one of the best young assistants and is likely in line to be a head coach sooner than later.
Q: These FSU and Tennessee lineups are both among the deepest 1 through 9 in this year’s CWS. But Tennessee even has FSU beat with eight guys who have double-digit homers this season. What has paved the way to this Tennessee team being far and away the national home run leader this season?
Sylvia: A lot of people would simply point at the dimensions of Lindsey Nelson Stadium, but I feel like that’s an unfair criticism. The park is small but they’ve continued to rake at Hoover (in the SEC Tournament) and away parks along with most of their home runs being no-doubters. I think the biggest thing is the guys he’s bringing into the program. Not only are they benefiting from college weight training but you’ll even seen some freshmen like Dean Curley putting up power numbers. Having no real hole in the lineup with even Cal Stark in the nine hole heating up makes every at-bat dangerous. As a pitcher, you can’t really take off any pitch or it might result in runs.
Q: Beyond that depth, there are obviously a few stars atop the lineup in Christian Moore and Blake Burke. What makes these two such all-around dangerous hitters who are likely to be high draft picks next month?
Sylvia: Christian Moore is an all-around star. He’s always been a valuable piece but the jump he made this year has been astronomical. He owns the program record for career and season home runs after this junior campaign. When you combine that with his speed and ability to get on base through walks and base hits, he’s the total package at the plate. Then you have Burke, who is right behind Moore in both the batting order and record book. He’s transformed from a two-result (strikeout or home run) player to a complete hitter. Teams have tried shifting and he’s poked it the other way. He’s got plenty of power as a big first baseman but he is also coming off a game where he did his damage by hammering balls to the outfield. I’m not sure you can find a better 1-2 punch in the country and that’s a big reason the Vols are in the spot they are.
Q: Who do you expect to start on the mound for Tennessee vs. FSU? Seems like AJ Causey and Drew Beam are the likely candidates. What bullpen arms should FSU fans know about if Tennessee is protecting a lead in the later innings?
Sylvia: If they stick with what the series-opening plan has been all season, it should be Chris Stamos getting the ball. He’s struggled in the postseason but has been solid as an opener for AJ Causey. Stamos typically goes 2-3 innings before the ball is handed to Causey, who attempts to go the distance. He’s been the best pitcher on the team this year with a funky delivery that has a lot of movement on his fastball. I’d expect this combo to start with Drew Beam getting the ball game two, win or loss. Out of the bullpen, two guys that are most likely to come in are Kirby Connell and Aaron Combs. Connell is a lefty with a nice off-speed and killer mustache. He has tons of experience with the most appearances in Tennessee history. Combs is the closer who has shut down ninth innings in big moments like the SEC title game.