The final weekend of the 2024 college baseball regular season has arrived.
For No. 10 Florida State (37-13, 15-11 in ACC), there's quite an opportunity on the line this weekend when the Seminoles host visiting Georgia Tech (30-19, 14-13) at Dick Howser Stadium for a three-game series beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Considering FSU's stadium took some pretty serious damage due to a tornado less than a week ago, it is in good shape for this series with a 10-foot fence extension in right field instead of the normal 20-foot fence that was bent backwards in the storm.
FSU enters the final regular-season weekend firmly on the bubble to be a top-eight national seed which would allow FSU's entire path to the College World Series to go through Howser. FSU also enters the GT series tied for third in the ACC standings with a bunch of team nipping at the Seminoles' heels. A series win this weekend vs. the Yellow Jackets would go a long way towards FSU securing a national seed and a top-four finish in the ACC that would aid their cause in next week's ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
GT enters the series with an impressive offensive approach helmed by assistant coach and former FSU baseball standout James Ramsey. In ACC games this season, the Yellow Jackets are second among conference teams in batting average (.308) and lead the league in on-base percentage (.408). GT also has 85 home runs this season led by national freshman of the year contender Drew Burress who has 21 homers and a team-high .376 batting average.
On the mound, though, Georgia Tech has a 6.15 ERA this season (11th out of 14 ACC teams). They've allowed 75 home runs, tied for second most among ACC teams.
In Thursday's series opener, FSU will turn to sophomore ace Jamie Arnold (8-3, 2.27 ERA) against junior righty Aeden Finateri (5-2, 5.89 ERA). In his last two starts, Finateri has allowed 13 earned runs over 5.1 innings against Clemson and Duke.
In some good news for FSU, Jaime Ferrer is back in the lineup tonight after missing the last two games due to a lingering wrist injury. He'll play left field and bat fifth.
FSU starting lineup
GT starting lineup
I'll have updates from Howser once things get underway just after 7 p.m.
For No. 10 Florida State (37-13, 15-11 in ACC), there's quite an opportunity on the line this weekend when the Seminoles host visiting Georgia Tech (30-19, 14-13) at Dick Howser Stadium for a three-game series beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Considering FSU's stadium took some pretty serious damage due to a tornado less than a week ago, it is in good shape for this series with a 10-foot fence extension in right field instead of the normal 20-foot fence that was bent backwards in the storm.
FSU enters the final regular-season weekend firmly on the bubble to be a top-eight national seed which would allow FSU's entire path to the College World Series to go through Howser. FSU also enters the GT series tied for third in the ACC standings with a bunch of team nipping at the Seminoles' heels. A series win this weekend vs. the Yellow Jackets would go a long way towards FSU securing a national seed and a top-four finish in the ACC that would aid their cause in next week's ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
GT enters the series with an impressive offensive approach helmed by assistant coach and former FSU baseball standout James Ramsey. In ACC games this season, the Yellow Jackets are second among conference teams in batting average (.308) and lead the league in on-base percentage (.408). GT also has 85 home runs this season led by national freshman of the year contender Drew Burress who has 21 homers and a team-high .376 batting average.
On the mound, though, Georgia Tech has a 6.15 ERA this season (11th out of 14 ACC teams). They've allowed 75 home runs, tied for second most among ACC teams.
In Thursday's series opener, FSU will turn to sophomore ace Jamie Arnold (8-3, 2.27 ERA) against junior righty Aeden Finateri (5-2, 5.89 ERA). In his last two starts, Finateri has allowed 13 earned runs over 5.1 innings against Clemson and Duke.
In some good news for FSU, Jaime Ferrer is back in the lineup tonight after missing the last two games due to a lingering wrist injury. He'll play left field and bat fifth.
FSU starting lineup
cf | 18 Max Williams | L | .307 | ||
| 2 | 3b | 24 Cam Smith | R | .389 | |
| 3 | rf | 22 James Tibbs III | L | .387 | |
| 4 | dh | 43 Marco Dinges | R | .305 | |
| 5 | lf | 7 Jaime Ferrer | R | .305 | |
| 6 | 1b | 32 Daniel Cantu | L | .318 | |
| 7 | ss | 1 Alex Lodise | R | .277 | |
| 8 | c | 20 Jaxson West | L | .281 | |
| 9 | 2b | 3 Drew Faurot | B | .280 |
GT starting lineup
| Spot | Pos | # Player | Bats | Avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | lf | 18 Trey Yunger | R | .354 | |
| 2 | cf | 8 Drew Burress | R | .376 | |
| 3 | dh | 55 Matthew Ellis | L | .309 | |
| 4 | 1b | 40 John Giesler | R | .297 | |
| 5 | ss | 9 Payton Green | R | .326 | |
| 6 | rf | 2 Cam Jones | R | .335 | |
| 7 | 2b | 0 Mike Becchetti | R | .304 | |
| 8 | 3b | 6 Carson Kerce | R | .288 | |
| 9 | c | 25 Vahn Lackey | R | .200 |
I'll have updates from Howser once things get underway just after 7 p.m.
