Alex Lodise set some pretty lofty goals for himself entering his junior season at Florida State.
Before the season began, he said he wanted to be the All-ACC first-team shortstop and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Mission accomplished on both fronts Monday. Lodise was named the ACC's first-team shortstop and became the first Seminole to win the conference's DPOTY honor. But that wasn't all. Lodise also became the 10th Seminole to be named ACC Player of the Year, earning recognition for one of the more productive seasons in recent program history.
"It meant a ton to me. It's kind of a moment where the hard work almost paid off, and it made me realize that coming from UNF to being the ACC Player of the Year is a pretty big jump," Lodise said on a Zoom call with FSU reporters Wednesday. "It was a surreal moment. It was just amazing."
Lodise enters the ACC Tournament this week hitting .422 (best nationally among all players from high-major conferences) with 17 home runs, 17 doubles, a .483 on-base percentage and a .772 slugging percentage. He's on pace to have the best batting average by a Seminole since Buster Posey hit .463 in 2008.
"Going into this winter, I knew I could be good and be an early hitter in this offense. Coming into the preseason, I think that's where I kind of showed that I could do it. That's where I gained all my confidence," Lodise said. "The preseason was the best I've ever hit in my life. I think I hit better in the preseason than I'm hitting right now in the actual season. And so that's where I kind of was like, 'Alright, I can do it. I've just got to stretch it through the entire 250 at-bats you get in a season. I just tried to drag the confidence along with me as much as I possibly could."
On top of what he's brought in the two-hole of the FSU lineup, Lodise has been consistently sensational in the field for the Seminoles. He was errorless on the year for nearly a month and finished the regular season with just five errors and a .973 fielding percentage, with no errors in FSU's last 15 games. He consistently makes the easy plays, but has also made a handful of sensational plays this season. That includes a pair of leaping throws from deep in the hole to first which FSU head coach Link Jarrett called Jeter-esque. That combination led him to becoming FSU's first-ever ACC Defensive Player of the Year in the ninth year the award has been given out.
Lodise gives Jarrett a lot of credit for the strides he's made since a freshman season at UNF where he committed 17 errors and had a .928 fielding percentage.
"He's been a massive part," Lodise said of his head coach. "He's taught me pretty much everything I know now about defense and going to my left, going right, the game clock, setting my feet on stuff that I would always throw on the run and throw up the line probably. He's changed how I play defense, and changed it in an amazing way. I couldn't thank him any more for it."
Jarrett quickly saw maturation and improvement from Lodise as a shortstop in his first fall at FSU ahead of the 2024 season in which he hit .288 with nine home runs and a .944 fielding percentage. Now he sees a player who has a strong case for being the best college baseball player in the country this season.
"The information these guys have is really cool, but you have to take that information and the things you learn and apply it in the game. He's done it, and he's physically gotten stronger. He understands himself, management of the at-bat, I think the pitch selection has gotten better," Jarrett said of Lodise. "That leads you to the point of this could be the best baseball player in the country. Probably is. I do a poor job of assessing everybody else in the country and trying to compare. I know he's spectacular, the consistency defensively, the delivery offensively, some of the moments, the use of the field, the power, it's as good as I've seen...He's positioned himself for longevity in the game."
Before the season began, he said he wanted to be the All-ACC first-team shortstop and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Mission accomplished on both fronts Monday. Lodise was named the ACC's first-team shortstop and became the first Seminole to win the conference's DPOTY honor. But that wasn't all. Lodise also became the 10th Seminole to be named ACC Player of the Year, earning recognition for one of the more productive seasons in recent program history.
"It meant a ton to me. It's kind of a moment where the hard work almost paid off, and it made me realize that coming from UNF to being the ACC Player of the Year is a pretty big jump," Lodise said on a Zoom call with FSU reporters Wednesday. "It was a surreal moment. It was just amazing."
Lodise enters the ACC Tournament this week hitting .422 (best nationally among all players from high-major conferences) with 17 home runs, 17 doubles, a .483 on-base percentage and a .772 slugging percentage. He's on pace to have the best batting average by a Seminole since Buster Posey hit .463 in 2008.
"Going into this winter, I knew I could be good and be an early hitter in this offense. Coming into the preseason, I think that's where I kind of showed that I could do it. That's where I gained all my confidence," Lodise said. "The preseason was the best I've ever hit in my life. I think I hit better in the preseason than I'm hitting right now in the actual season. And so that's where I kind of was like, 'Alright, I can do it. I've just got to stretch it through the entire 250 at-bats you get in a season. I just tried to drag the confidence along with me as much as I possibly could."
On top of what he's brought in the two-hole of the FSU lineup, Lodise has been consistently sensational in the field for the Seminoles. He was errorless on the year for nearly a month and finished the regular season with just five errors and a .973 fielding percentage, with no errors in FSU's last 15 games. He consistently makes the easy plays, but has also made a handful of sensational plays this season. That includes a pair of leaping throws from deep in the hole to first which FSU head coach Link Jarrett called Jeter-esque. That combination led him to becoming FSU's first-ever ACC Defensive Player of the Year in the ninth year the award has been given out.
Lodise gives Jarrett a lot of credit for the strides he's made since a freshman season at UNF where he committed 17 errors and had a .928 fielding percentage.
"He's been a massive part," Lodise said of his head coach. "He's taught me pretty much everything I know now about defense and going to my left, going right, the game clock, setting my feet on stuff that I would always throw on the run and throw up the line probably. He's changed how I play defense, and changed it in an amazing way. I couldn't thank him any more for it."
Jarrett quickly saw maturation and improvement from Lodise as a shortstop in his first fall at FSU ahead of the 2024 season in which he hit .288 with nine home runs and a .944 fielding percentage. Now he sees a player who has a strong case for being the best college baseball player in the country this season.
"The information these guys have is really cool, but you have to take that information and the things you learn and apply it in the game. He's done it, and he's physically gotten stronger. He understands himself, management of the at-bat, I think the pitch selection has gotten better," Jarrett said of Lodise. "That leads you to the point of this could be the best baseball player in the country. Probably is. I do a poor job of assessing everybody else in the country and trying to compare. I know he's spectacular, the consistency defensively, the delivery offensively, some of the moments, the use of the field, the power, it's as good as I've seen...He's positioned himself for longevity in the game."
