Rainout boosts FSU’s NCAA Tournament hopes
The Florida State baseball team, which has won at least 40 games during each of the past 39 seasons, entered its final weekend series of the regular season in desperate need of a boost to its postseason résumé.
The Seminoles (35-20, 14-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) have done just that, clinching their regular-season finale series on the road against the second-ranked Louisville Cardinals (46-9, 23-6). The third game of the series was canceled due to storms and won’t be rescheduled.
The series win meant a great deal for FSU.
The series victory over Louisville goes a long way toward ensuring the Seminoles will extend their NCAA Tournament appearance streak to 40 years.
The Seminoles also will get a boost in the seedings for the upcoming conference tournament.
FSU entered the weekend as the No. 8 seed in the ACC Tournament, with a chance to drop down the standings if the Seminoles lost multiple games to the Cardinals.
However, wins in the first two games against Louisville meant FSU stayed locked into the No. 8 spot in the tournament.
In the new ACC Tournament format implemented this season, there are four three-team pools. The No. 8 seed is paired up with the No. 1 seed and the No. 12 seed. Saturday’s action determined that a Notre Dame team FSU swept on the road earlier this season will be the 12th seed.
After the schools called off the final game of the FSU-Louisville series, the Cardinals retain the top spot in the conference, joining the Seminoles’ pool.
If Florida State had defeated Louisville a third time, the Cardinals would have fallen to the No. 2 seed and North Carolina would have taken over the No. 1 spot. Rain, however, favored Louisville and didn’t help the Tar Heels Saturday.
The ACC Tournament is scheduled to be played Tuesday through next Sunday at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville.
Despite the stakes and the Seminoles’ struggles earlier this season, FSU head coach Mike Martin is focused on pushing his team to play its strongest baseball at the right time.
“We don’t care if we are playing nine statues, we’re going to do everything we can to win the ballgame,” Martin said. “We’re going to compete to the best of our ability.”