FSU baseball placed on upset watch in Tallahassee Regional
· Yahoo Sports
For the third straight season, the Florida State Seminoles are hosting a Tallahassee Regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. FSU is the No. 10 overall seed and is looking to make another deep postseason run and return to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Up first is the Tallahassee Regional, where they will host the No. 2-seeded Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, No. 3-seeded Northern Illinois Huskies, and No. 4-seeded St. John's Red Storm. They will open the regional on Friday against St. John's, with the game starting at 3 p.m. ET and being broadcast on the ACC Network.
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The Seminoles are expected to win the Regional and advance to the Super Regional round, where they will play the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional, hosted by the Alabama Crimson Tide. It won't be easy, though, and Jacob Rudner of Baseball America has placed FSU on upset watch.
Rudner made it very clear that he is not expecting FSU to lose, and thinks they have what it takes to make the CWS, but is acknowledging that Coastal Carolina will be a tough opponent for FSU to face in Tallahassee.
That dynamic positions Coastal Carolina well to line up its pitching for a potential winners’ bracket showdown against Florida State on Day 2 of the tournament, which in theory could align with ace righthander Cameron Flukey’s turn. Flukey alone puts Coastal squarely in upset territory as he continues to round back into form after missing several months due to injury. His stuff is premium, and Florida State, though very well equipped on the mound, has lacked consistent offensive firepower throughout stretches of the season. The Seminoles have handled velocity reasonably well but have also shown a tendency to expand the zone and struggle against quality breaking stuff, an area where Flukey can be particularly dangerous.
The Chanticleers are 37-21 this season, but went 3-6 in their past nine games. Flukey entered the season as one of the best pitchers in the country and is getting healthy at the right time. The righty has a 4.35 ERA in just 20.2 innings, striking out 28 batters and walking seven.
FSU and Coastal Carolina are not guaranteed to play, but it seems likely that they will meet as the top two teams in the regional. FSU will play St John's on Friday before Coastal Carolina and Northern Illinois play in the final game of the day.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: FSU baseball put on upset watch by Baseball America