The last two years of Florida State baseball followed fairly similar trajectories.
Remarkably talented teams -- albeit in notably different ways -- played consistently well over the course of a season and positioned themselves to potentially be the team that could finally get the proverbial national-championship monkey off the program's back.
Ultimately, neither team was able to do it. And the damning moment of the seasons for each team was unfortunately quite similar as well.
Last year in FSU's College World Series opener, the Seminoles were one strike away from a huge win over Tennessee but didn't get a check-swing call in their favor and wound up blowing a three-run ninth-inning lead and losing 12-11.
This year, FSU took a three-run lead into the ninth inning of Game 1 of the Corvallis Super Regional vs. No. 8 seed Oregon State. Again, it came one strike away but couldn't get the job done, losing that game 5-4 in 10 innings and losing the series in three games, denying FSU a second straight to Omaha which would have been a program first since the Seminoles made three straight trips from 1998 through 2000.
Still, when you consider all that FSU replaced off last year's team and yet still managed to nearly end up back in Omaha this year, it's impossible not to be impressed with the coaching job Link Jarrett has done the last two years at his alma mater.
FSU lost two hitters taken in the first round of the MLB Draft and two more taken in the fourth round off the 2024 squad. It lost the ACC Player of the Year in James Tibbs III. Of its 131 home runs that team hit, it lost 94 of them last offseason.
And yet, it replaced one ACC Player of the Year with another in Alex Lodise, FSU's shortstop who could very well become the program's fifth Golden Spikes Award winner later this month. Almost every hitter that returned took a sizable step forward and the Seminoles added a few impact transfers and impact freshmen who kept the offensive drop-off to a minimum.
Even while Jarrett was correct to believe that this 2025 FSU team was going to win games more because of its run-prevention abilities, the offense was still a major factor. The Seminoles finished just four points worse in batting average (.311) than the 2024 team and still managed to mash 104 home runs, sixth-most in a season in program history.
On the mound, FSU lost two starting pitchers who accounted for 136 innings on the mound off last year's team and an ace reliever in Brennen Oxford. It never got Cam Leiter -- who entered the 2024 season with higher draft stock than Jamie Arnold -- back this season from his 2024 injury which included multiple setbacks in his rehab.
And yet, even with those losses, Jarrett and pitching coach Micah Posey were able to transform its pitching rotation with the addition of two transfers to replace Carson Dorsey and Conner Whittaker.
With all this evidence, you can see talent acquisition isn't likely to be a problem for the Seminoles. Especially now with the proven track record of development and success the Seminoles can point to over the last two seasons.
Even beyond the talent and development, these last two FSU teams have had one common trait that speaks more to Jarrett as a head coach than anything: incredible resolve.
The 2024 team bounced back from heartbreak -- and what can certainly be argued was a robbery of the game by umpires -- vs. Tennessee and won its next two games in Omaha to reach the Final Four of the CWS.
This year's team bounced back from Friday night's heartbreak to beat Oregon State Saturday. When it got into a 13-3 hole three innings into Sunday's game, the Seminoles again responded, cutting the final score to 14-10. If a few bounces went FSU's way, it's not that hard to see the Seminoles winning a game in which they trailed by 10 runs in the third inning to punch a second straight trip to Omaha.
FSU will again have a lot to replace off this 2025 team ahead of the 2026 season. Arnold is about to be a likely top-five pick in the MLB Draft, Lodise has played his way into likely being a first-rounder as well, and Drew Faurot, Max Williams and a few others should also hear their names called in the first few rounds. But I once again expect the Seminoles to be good in 2026 for a number of reasons. Because of the pieces they'll be bringing back, what they could add and the undeniable impact the Seminoles' head coach has on his team year-in and year-out.
I'm by no means saying 2026 is going to be the year FSU finally wins it all. But I also must admit that at this time last year, I didn't have FSU pegged as the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and coming one win away from the College World Series.
With how well Jarrett and his staff acquire and develop talent and with the resiliency that has become the backbone of his program at both the macro and micro levels the last few seasons, I feel confident the stars will align for FSU at some point.
Whether any of you believe it or not -- and I get why you may be skeptical given the deep, dark lore of the program that extends back longer than I've been alive -- this longstanding FSU baseball nightmare will eventually come to an end.
And it's ok with me if you don't believe me until it happens.
Remarkably talented teams -- albeit in notably different ways -- played consistently well over the course of a season and positioned themselves to potentially be the team that could finally get the proverbial national-championship monkey off the program's back.
Ultimately, neither team was able to do it. And the damning moment of the seasons for each team was unfortunately quite similar as well.
Last year in FSU's College World Series opener, the Seminoles were one strike away from a huge win over Tennessee but didn't get a check-swing call in their favor and wound up blowing a three-run ninth-inning lead and losing 12-11.
This year, FSU took a three-run lead into the ninth inning of Game 1 of the Corvallis Super Regional vs. No. 8 seed Oregon State. Again, it came one strike away but couldn't get the job done, losing that game 5-4 in 10 innings and losing the series in three games, denying FSU a second straight to Omaha which would have been a program first since the Seminoles made three straight trips from 1998 through 2000.
Still, when you consider all that FSU replaced off last year's team and yet still managed to nearly end up back in Omaha this year, it's impossible not to be impressed with the coaching job Link Jarrett has done the last two years at his alma mater.
FSU lost two hitters taken in the first round of the MLB Draft and two more taken in the fourth round off the 2024 squad. It lost the ACC Player of the Year in James Tibbs III. Of its 131 home runs that team hit, it lost 94 of them last offseason.
And yet, it replaced one ACC Player of the Year with another in Alex Lodise, FSU's shortstop who could very well become the program's fifth Golden Spikes Award winner later this month. Almost every hitter that returned took a sizable step forward and the Seminoles added a few impact transfers and impact freshmen who kept the offensive drop-off to a minimum.
Even while Jarrett was correct to believe that this 2025 FSU team was going to win games more because of its run-prevention abilities, the offense was still a major factor. The Seminoles finished just four points worse in batting average (.311) than the 2024 team and still managed to mash 104 home runs, sixth-most in a season in program history.
On the mound, FSU lost two starting pitchers who accounted for 136 innings on the mound off last year's team and an ace reliever in Brennen Oxford. It never got Cam Leiter -- who entered the 2024 season with higher draft stock than Jamie Arnold -- back this season from his 2024 injury which included multiple setbacks in his rehab.
And yet, even with those losses, Jarrett and pitching coach Micah Posey were able to transform its pitching rotation with the addition of two transfers to replace Carson Dorsey and Conner Whittaker.
With all this evidence, you can see talent acquisition isn't likely to be a problem for the Seminoles. Especially now with the proven track record of development and success the Seminoles can point to over the last two seasons.
Even beyond the talent and development, these last two FSU teams have had one common trait that speaks more to Jarrett as a head coach than anything: incredible resolve.
The 2024 team bounced back from heartbreak -- and what can certainly be argued was a robbery of the game by umpires -- vs. Tennessee and won its next two games in Omaha to reach the Final Four of the CWS.
This year's team bounced back from Friday night's heartbreak to beat Oregon State Saturday. When it got into a 13-3 hole three innings into Sunday's game, the Seminoles again responded, cutting the final score to 14-10. If a few bounces went FSU's way, it's not that hard to see the Seminoles winning a game in which they trailed by 10 runs in the third inning to punch a second straight trip to Omaha.
FSU will again have a lot to replace off this 2025 team ahead of the 2026 season. Arnold is about to be a likely top-five pick in the MLB Draft, Lodise has played his way into likely being a first-rounder as well, and Drew Faurot, Max Williams and a few others should also hear their names called in the first few rounds. But I once again expect the Seminoles to be good in 2026 for a number of reasons. Because of the pieces they'll be bringing back, what they could add and the undeniable impact the Seminoles' head coach has on his team year-in and year-out.
I'm by no means saying 2026 is going to be the year FSU finally wins it all. But I also must admit that at this time last year, I didn't have FSU pegged as the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and coming one win away from the College World Series.
With how well Jarrett and his staff acquire and develop talent and with the resiliency that has become the backbone of his program at both the macro and micro levels the last few seasons, I feel confident the stars will align for FSU at some point.
Whether any of you believe it or not -- and I get why you may be skeptical given the deep, dark lore of the program that extends back longer than I've been alive -- this longstanding FSU baseball nightmare will eventually come to an end.
And it's ok with me if you don't believe me until it happens.
