4/27/2023 baseball Edit

Osceola video: Link Jarrett on return to ND, FSU's player development

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Link Jarrett last was in South Bend, Ind., in the fall for Notre Dame's ring ceremony following the team's College World Series run. On Friday, he brings a Florida State baseball team desperate to build confidence and pick up wins.

Jarrett will make his return to Notre Dame on Friday for a three-game series. Jarrett coached Notre Dame for three seasons, guiding the Fighting Irish to the CWS in 2022 before he accepted the job at FSU just days later.

"Clearly there's some interesting layers to this," Jarrett said. "As you coach long enough, you will encounter some of these moments. I think this one may be as unique as any I clearly have been a part of but maybe further even heard of. ...

"It will be unique to walk out on to the field. The field that I kind of redid the turf, I redid the bullpens, the cages, the graphics, the dugouts. Really all of it. And to walk back in after you've been away for a little while to see what this actually looks like it will be unique on a lot of layers."

FSU (14-25) will play Notre Dame on Friday at 6 p.m. (ACC Network Extra). RHP Jackson Baumeister (2-4, 5.56 ERA) will start for FSU against Notre Dame LHP Aidan Tyrell (7-1, 2.76 ERA).

On Saturday, Conner Whittaker (3-5, 4.83 ERA) will take the mound in a 4 p.m. start (ACC Network). Sunday's starter is TBA as the teams wrap up the series at 3 p.m. (ESPN2).

FSU's midweek game against Stetson was rained out, which means the bullpen will be rested. Jarrett has often turned to RHP Carson Montgomery in a starting or long relief role on Sundays.

Pushing for ACC Tournament, evaluating player development

The Seminoles are just 5-16 in the ACC standings and are stunningly looking at missing the ACC Tournament, which fields 12 teams in four pools. FSU has nine ACC games left between trips to Notre Dame (23-16, 11-10) and No. 21 Louisville (27-13, 8-10) as well as a home series with No. 2 Wake Forest (35-6, 16-4).

Jarrett said he has made reaching the ACC Tournament a talking point with the Seminoles, even though they have dug quite the deficit and making the trip to Charlotte, N.C., appears unrealistic.

"This is not the must-win that you want to be in," Jarrett said. "You want to be in the must win of the third game of the Series in Omaha to win it. You want to be in the must-win in that Super Regional to win it. ... What we've positioned ourselves now where the must-wins are essentially every time you walk out there. Whether we want to face that or not, that's kind of where we have positioned ourselves."

Jarrett and the FSU staff are watching how players develop and push themselves in the final 15 games in what he thinks will be a learning experience.

"The player development, the things we do at practice, never ends," Jarrett said. "But now you're developing some of that what it feels like when you're playing games that matter. And every one of these win, lose or draw is a significant training moment and experience for these guys. And it's not how you would want to draw it up but that's what it is right now. And I hope they can understand that. We have talked about it. I'm not putting numbers on the dry-erase board and breaking down all this stuff."