The Noles are off to a 3-0 start after wins against James Madison and Jacksonville to open the season. Now the real tests begin. Florida State baseball packs its bags and heads to Arlington, Texas, this weekend for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.
The field features six programs, including Auburn, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, Nebraska, and FSU. The Noles will face two Big Ten teams and one SEC opponent in a three-game stretch from February 20-22. This is not your typical early-season tune-up schedule as we’ve seen in years past. Auburn was a No. 4 national seed last year and is currently ranked in the top 10. While the Big Ten is not known as a strong baseball conference, Nebraska won the Big Ten Tournament the past two years and is off to a 3-1 start. Michigan might be the sleeper team on the docket, coming in at 3-1 with two ranked wins already. This weekend is a legitimate measuring stick for a Seminole team that has generated real optimism through three games but still has questions to answer.
The rotation is set with Wes Mendes on Friday, Bryson Moore on Saturday and Sunday is TBD as Trey Beard is considered close to returning but still day-to-day according to Link Jarret on Thursday. The offense showed real pop against JMU and Jacksonville, racking up 34 runs in three games, and the bullpen, arguably FSU’s biggest question mark entering the year, has impressed through the young season so far. The competition level jumps significantly this weekend, so let’s break down each matchup.
Michigan enters this weekend hot. The Wolverines won the Surprise Tournament in Arizona last weekend, which included victories over then No. 12 Oregon State and No. 24 Arizona. Their only loss this season was at the hands of Oregon State by one run in 10 innings. Not many had Michigan on their radar coming into this season, but this is a team that already has a quality tournament championship under its belt and is clearly playing with confidence.
If the Wolverines follow last week’s rotation, sophomore right-hander Tate Carey will be who the Noles face in game one. Against Oregon State last Friday, Carney threw 5 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts to just one walk. Carney was an All-Big Ten Freshman last season after throwing 57 innings and earning a 9-0 record with a 3.63 ERA. It’s too early to know the Wolverine’s bullpen lineup, but two names to know that have already appeared in multiple games are RHP Gavin DeVooght and LHP Shane Brinham. DeVooght earned saves in the opener against Oregon State and again against Stanford the following night. He then threw three scoreless innings against the Beavers on Monday. Freshman Shane Brinham has also appeared in three of UM’s first four games. He’s allowed one hit and zero runs across 3.2 innings.
On the offensive side, junior outfielder Brenden Stressler leads with a .500 batting average in fourteen plate appearances. The Wolverines have five batters with double-digit at-bats that are hitting over .300. UM is 3-of-8 on stolen base attempts and struck out 51 times with 21 walks. Their schedule to open the season must be taken into consideration, but the Wolverines have only cracked the five-run mark once in the first four games. However, they haven’t allowed more than five runs, but once, either.
FSU will send Wes Mendes to the mound in the Friday starter role after a solid opening day outing against JMU, where he went five innings, struck out seven, and did not allow an earned run. Getting five-plus quality innings from him against a Michigan lineup with momentum will be the key to a strong start in Arlington.
This is the headliner of the weekend. Auburn comes in ranked No. 9 in the preseason D1Baseball poll and profiles as one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country. Second baseman Chris Rembert is regarded as one of the top pure hitters in the 2026 draft class, hitting .344 with 14 doubles and 10 home runs last season. Catcher Chase Fralick is a Freshman All-American returning with a full year of experience. This lineup is poised to put up runs, but so far, it’s been very up and down for the Tigers.
They opened with a series against Youngstown State and only put up two runs in each of the first two games before exploding for seventeen runs in the run-rule shortened series finale. On Tuesday, the Tigers got blanked by Cincinnati in a shutout loss at home. Fralick is leading the lineup batting .533 in fifteen at-bats
The question for Auburn is whether a rebuilt pitching rotation holds up. The Tigers lost their 2025 staff tone-setter along with several key arms, leaning on transfers Drew Whalen and Jake Marciano with returning starters Christian Chatterton and Andreas Alvarez to carry the load.
In their season-opening series against Youngstown, sophomore LHP Jackson Sanders got the nod on Saturday. Sanders threw six innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out eight and walking one. The Tigers’ pitching has answered the call so far, considering the competition. Through four games, they have recorded 56 strikeouts and reached double-digit Ks in every game.
This is where Bryson Moore’s outing last weekend comes into play. Moore had a tough start against JMU in his fill-in role after getting bumped up to Saturday, getting pulled after just 1.2 innings. Getting him right and ready to deliver a quality Sunday start is going to be one of Posey’s biggest tasks heading into the week. Moore oozes potential but is new to a weekend starting role. This would be a good outing to start putting it all together and prove the JMU showing was a fluke. It’s going to be the highlight of the weekend when these two powerhouses face off. The Tigers begin the series on Friday against Kansas State.
Nebraska won the Big Ten Tournament the past two years but was picked fourth in the conference’s preseason poll this season, led by Jett Buck, Ty Horn and Case Sanderson among the Big Ten’s players to watch. The Huskers had significant roster turnover of their own in the offseason, losing 12 players to the portal, but they came back with some quality additions of their own and entered the season as one of the more experienced programs in the Big Ten.
The Huskers (3-1) opened the season with wins over UConn, Northeastern and Grand Canyon, then dropped their last game against Stanford. Competition considered, they have scored over 5 runs in all 12 games, including a 12-2 run-rule victory over UConn on Opening Day. In their Sunday game against GCU, sophomore RHP Gavin Balchowicz got the start. He threw 4.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out five and walking two.
Nebraska’s lineup looks dangerous on the stat sheet, with five batters who have double-digit plate appearances hitting over .400. The Huskers have struck out 39 times and walked 15 in 154 total at-bats. Oddly, they have not logged a single stolen base attempt this season. However, they have allowed 6 stolen bags on 7 attempts, so FSU’s speed on the basepaths could be a factor in this game.
With the Sunday starter status up in the air, FSU could go in a few directions. Link Jarrett mentioned before Tuesday’s midweek game against JU that Payton Manca would be on a pitch count in case Beard was not available. Gabe Nard is a guy who typically comes out of the pen, but has a lot of experience and can go long innings if needed. There is also the possibility that Beard is available by Sunday in some capacity. Jarrett hinted that being in play; however, the final rotation remains to be seen.
Nebraska might have a good offense on paper, but it’s been against questionable pitching. FSU should bring a lot bigger challenges. The Huskers open with Louisville on Friday before facing Kansas State on Saturday. They might not be the headline team of the tournament, but it would still be a quality win for FSU if they get it done.
This is a big weekend. Not just because of the competition level but because of what it represents for this program. FSU’s non-conference schedule is the toughest in the ACC, according to D1Baseball, and with 23 new players on the roster, Jarrett needs to find out fast what this team is made of. Three games against Michigan, Auburn and Nebraska in Arlington will tell us a lot.
As I mentioned before, baseball is a long season, and nothing that happens in week two will ultimately decide how good or bad a team is. However, FSU has a brutal conference schedule this season, and this type of weekend helps prepare them for what lies ahead. A clean sweep would be amazing, but at least finishing 2-1 would be ideal. This is just a friendly reminder that baseball teams don’t go undefeated.
The one thing that gives me hope is that this program has made a habit of rising to the moment under Jarrett. Two consecutive deep postseason runs after a rough 2023 is not an accident. The infrastructure is there, the talent pipeline is there, and this weekend is a chance to prove the 2026 Noles belong in the same conversation as the programs that came before them.
All games will be available in FloSports network. I recommend checking their YouTube channel HERE, as you may be able to watch the games for free. While I am not sure about games two and three, they already have a live stream set up for game one vs Michigan. Stay tuned to your source for fan-focused FSU coverage here at Plant The Spear. Thanks for reading, and Go Noles!
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