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Published Jun 19, 2024
Pregame notes, live updates: FSU takes on Tennessee in CWS Semifinals
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Curt Weiler  •  TheOsceola
Senior Writer
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@CurtMWeiler

For the first time in 12 years, the Florida State baseball team is one of the last four teams standing.

With consecutive wins in elimination games vs. ACC foes Virginia and North Carolina Sunday and Tuesday, the Seminoles are making their first appearance in the College World Series Semifinals since 2012 on Wednesday at 3 p.m. vs. No. 1 overall seed Tennessee (ESPN).

For FSU, it'll be a chance at revenge after the Volunteers plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth and used a controversial check-swing call to beat the Seminoles 12-11 in both teams' CWS opener Friday night. FSU would need to beat Tennessee in back-to-back games in order to knock out the Volunteers and advance to the CWS Championship Series while the Volunteers need just one win to advance.

"Can't wait. They're really good. They're really good..." FSU head coach Link Jarrett said about the rematch vs. Tennessee after Tuesday's win over UNC. "That game was very close to being pendulum swung our way and it did not. It's tough...They're really good. There's no wiggle room in the lineup. They have a variety of arms. They're talented. They've been here. They played in this stadium a lot. So excited. I recognize the difficulty of beating that team. It takes everything you've got. You have to finish. You have to defend. You have to execute pitches. And you have to be versatile and compete offensively to figure out a way to do it."

Through three games in Omaha, FSU's offense has been producing at an exceptional rate. The Seminoles' 27 runs in three CWS games are already the most an ACC team has ever scored in a single year in Omaha and third-most any team has scored since the College World Series moved to its new stadium, Charles Schwab Field, in 2011. FSU's 10.6 runs per game in the NCAA Tournament are the most of any team.

That FSU has produced so much in the CWS with minimal impact from its best hitters speaks to the depth of this lineup. In three games in Omaha, James Tibbs III and Cam Smith have combined for four hits in 23 at-bats with two total RBI. They've walked a combined nine times in three games so it's not like they have been a complete black hole, but still, they haven't yet looked like their powerful selves yet in the CWS. For FSU's sake, Wednesday would be an ideal moment for that to change.

As has been customary in games where FSU doesn't have a certifiable starting pitcher, Jarrett said after Tuesday's win that he didn't know where FSU would turn on the mound to begin Wednesday's game. Ace Jamie Arnold (11-3, 2.98 ERA) may be available on four days rest after he threw 98 pitches and allowed six runs (four earned runs) over five innings in that first game vs. Tennessee. If not Arnold, who may throw Thursday instead in the if-necessary game instead, FSU may turn to a bullpen game of sorts, piecing it together against an extremely talented Tennessee offense.

Tennessee, on the other hand, has announced it will start senior LHP Zander Sechrist (4-1, 3.26 ERA over 66.1 innings) for Wednesday's game. Sechrist became the Volunteers' third starter as the season progressed. Over his last four starts, he's allowed just two earned runs on 18 hits over 23 innings.

We'll see if the game starts as scheduled at 3 p.m. The FSU game is the middle game of a tripleheader after Tuesday night's game was postponed to Wednesday at 11 a.m. If that game goes long or if some more inclement weather hits like there's a chance of happening, FSU's game may get pushed back later in the day.

I'll also share updates about the weather as well as who will be FSU's starting pitcher and in the starting lineups when they are announced in our live updates game thread on the Osceola Village board.

For all our extensive baseball coverage from the last week in Omaha as well as what is to come over the next few days (plus our exceptional recruiting and football coverage with the 2024 season right around the corner), there's no better time than now to join the Osceola and get a free trial through August 10th, well into football preseason camp.

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