Florida State is 4-0 and rolling. The Seminoles handled a quality Michigan team Friday morning in Arlington, picking up a clean 6-1 victory at Globe Life Field to open the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series. It was exactly the kind of performance you want to see from a team trying to prove it belongs among the nation’s elite in week two of the season. Dominant pitching, timely hitting and a lineup that kept grinding until the final out.
Make no mistake, this was a good win. Michigan came into Arlington having already knocked off then-No. 12 Oregon State and No. 24 Arizona in the Surprise Tournament last weekend. The Wolverines were not a pushover, and FSU treated them accordingly.
Wes Mendes was excellent. The junior left-hander went 5.1 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out seven and walking one. He threw 89 pitches, 60 for strikes, and kept Michigan’s lineup completely off balance from the first inning. After a strong Opening Day performance against JMU, Mendes now owns a 2-0 record and has not allowed an earned run through two starts. That is the kind of Friday starter production that gives a pitching staff a pulse.
The bullpen did its job too. John Abraham came on in the sixth and threw 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out two and not allowing a single baserunner. Gabe Nard closed it out with a clean ninth, and the only blemish on the day came from Cooper Whited, who gave up a solo home run to Michigan’s Colby Turner in the ninth with the game already well in hand. Through nine innings, FSU held Michigan to just three hits and struck out ten batters total. For a bullpen that entered the season with question marks, that is an encouraging sign.
The leader of the day offensively was Gabe Fraser. The third baseman went 3-for-5 with a triple, a double, and six total bases. He was only a home run away from hitting for the cycle. He was on base seemingly every time FSU needed a spark, and his legs set up the scoring in multiple innings. Fraser also scored twice, and his triple to deep left field to open the second inning was the first crack in Michigan’s armor. He is quietly one of the more productive bats in this lineup.
Jace Estes was equally impressive in his second career start, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Estes drove in Fraser in the second with a single to center, added another RBI single in the fourth to score Fraser again, and was a consistent presence at the plate all afternoon. Estes is establishing himself as a player to watch in this lineup.
Brayden Dowd added a big sixth-inning double to left-center that scored both Estes and Chase Williams to push the lead to five, and Noah Sheffield came through with another timely RBI single in the fourth. The top of the order did what it needed to do, and the offense spread the production around with six different players recording hits.
The one note worth mentioning is that FSU left 12 runners on base and went just 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position. The Noles scored six runs, which is solid output, but they had opportunities to blow this one open earlier that they did not convert. That is something to keep an eye on as the competition level continues to rise.
FSU broke through in the second when Fraser tripled to deep left and scored on an Estes single to center. The Noles added two more in the fourth, with Estes driving in Fraser again before Sheffield singled through the left side to score Estes and make it 3-0.
The big inning came in the sixth. Estes led off with a single and Williams worked a walk, setting the table for Dowd’s two-run double to left-center. A wild pitch moved the runners up, and Cal Fisher added a sacrifice fly to right to score Dowd and push the lead to 6-0. Michigan’s pitching staff used four arms between the fifth and sixth innings, and FSU took full advantage of the chaos.
Michigan’s only response came in the ninth on a Turner solo shot to left, a cosmetic run with the outcome already decided.
FSU is 4-0, the pitching staff has been excellent through four games, and the lineup has enough pieces to be dangerous even when it is not clicking on all cylinders. Mendes looks like a legitimate Friday ace. The bullpen, at least through the early going, has been far better than advertised. And Fraser and Estes are giving Jarrett exactly what he needs from the middle of his order.
The Noles have proven through four games that they are for real. Now comes the real test. Tomorrow, FSU squares off against No. 9 Auburn in what figures to be the marquee matchup of the weekend. The Tigers bring one of the most dangerous offenses in the country, led by Chris Rembert and Chase Fralick, and FSU will need Bryson Moore to be at his best.
Link Jarrett mentioned after the game that Moore is starting, but Trey Beard may be available in some capacity, so they have options. He emphasized how important it was for Moore to come in and calm things down early, as Mendes did today. Friday belonged to the Noles and gave them early momentum for the remainder of the weekend in Arlington. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!
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