Florida State will begin its quest for that elusive national title on Friday, hosting the St. John\u2019s Red Storm at 3 p.m. in the Tallahassee Regional. The Noles are the odds-on favorites to advance to the Super Regionals, with the biggest challenge likely coming from the No. 2-seeded Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s baseball, and anything can happen, as evidenced in a ton of games this season, as top teams lost against inferior competition on numerous occasions. <\/p>\n
The good news for Florida State is that they usually beat who they were supposed to beat, except for the West Coast debacle against Stanford. \u00a0They won every midweek game, except those against Florida. It was the top teams that they struggled to beat consistently. <\/p>\n
FSU should win the Tallahassee Regional. Here are three reasons that\u2019ll be the case. However, we\u2019ll also provide three reasons why that might not happen to keep it balanced:<\/p>\n
Florida State has the best overall starting pitching in the regional. FSU starting pitchers went at least five innings in 76 percent of their starts. If that happens and the starting pitcher gives way to John Abraham or Chris Knier with a lead? It\u2019s usually curtains for the opposing team. <\/p>\n
Florida State is extremely tough to beat in Dick Howser Stadium. They went 27-4 at home this year. One of those losses was the day after they lost Myles Bailey for the season(predictable letdown against Duke). They lost by two runs against NC State, one run against Florida, and by three runs against Miami after leading for about 75 percent of that game. The Animals in Section B will be rocking, and Florida State usually plays well at home. They also know every nook and cranny in that stadium, which could come into play on offense and defense. <\/p>\n
Florida State\u2019s offense is usually serviceable and productive unless they are facing someone throwing flames. I don\u2019t think any of the other teams in this regional have a multitude of guys who can do that. Florida State doesn\u2019t have a ton of power, but it has more home runs than anyone else in this regional and knows how the ball carries at Howser. I\u2019d expect them to do enough to support the starting pitching. <\/p>\n
Three reasons they may not make it out of the Tallahassee Regional<\/p>\n
Florida State\u2019s offense is usually serviceable and productive, but it can go several innings without doing anything whatsoever. The number of non-competitive at-bats can be infuriating. We\u2019ve seen them make an average pitcher look like prime John Smoltz this season. It\u2019s an offense that\u2019s not built to come from behind. <\/p>\n
Florida State\u2019s situational hitting and propensity to leave runners stranded on base could cost them. FSU strikes out way too much for a team with little power. If they strand runners and allow teams to hang around, they could very well let a team steal a game. We\u2019ve seen that happen a few times this season.<\/p>\n
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