Postseason baseball is back in Howser as the Seminoles earned the No. 9 national seed to host the Tallahassee regional. This marks the 37th time FSU has hosted a regional in program history and the second consecutive time in three years under head coach Link Jarrett. FSU is one of just three ACC teams to host a regional joining North Carolina and Clemson.
The regional top-seeded Seminoles will be joined in Tallahassee by No. 2 seed Northeastern (48-9), No. 3 seed Mississippi State (34-21) and No. 4 seed Bethune-Cookman. FSU’s first matchup will be against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, who FSU defeated 9-7 in a midweek contest early in the season. They face off in game one of the regional on ACC Network on Friday, May 30th at 3 pm (ET). Northeastern and Mississippi State will battle it out in game two on Friday night at 7:30 pm on ESPN+.
If FSU wins, they will face the winner of game two on Saturday at 6 p.m. If they lose game one, they will face the loser of game two in an elimination match on Saturday at noon. The regional runs Friday through Monday, should a game seven be necessary on Monday.
The Tallahassee Regional schedule is set, we'll see you at Howser!#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/xPJ2sT1VzU
— FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) May 26, 2025
From a broad perspective, these teams aren’t that far apart on the stat sheet. Northeastern brings an impressive 27-game win streak to Tallahassee powered by the best ERA in the country and a strong defense to back it up. Their weakness appears to be their offensive attack with the worst offensive stats in the bracket. Bethune-Cookman has an impressive offense leading in runs per game, but their pitching and defense are miles behind everyone else. Florida State and Mississippi State mirror each other in scoring and runs allowed per game and are both well-rounded teams.
The major difference between the four is the strength of schedule. Being Power 4 teams, FSU and MSU have played schedules that don’t even compare to Northeastern and Bethune-Cookman, so that must be factored into the equation when looking at the stats.
FSU has the highest SOS ranking at 24th and is 13-10 in quad one games. They have impressive series wins over Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech. MSU has the second-highest SOS ranking at 27th with an 8-17 record in quad one games. They have impressive series wins over Ole Miss, Alabama and Kentucky.
When we look at Northeastern and Bethune-Cookman, their SOS ranking falls off a cliff at 168th and 230th respectively. Northeastern may have an impressive 27-game win streak, but they have only played five quad one game and are 2-3 in them. They have played just four games against Power 4 teams all season (Boston College twice and Kansas State twice), but they do hold a 3-1 record against them with the lone loss coming against BC early in the season. Don’t get me wrong, Northeastern is a dangerous team and that win streak is impressive no matter who they have played.
For the Wildcats, their SOS ranking is miles behind everyone else at 230th and they have only played 8 games that are ranked as quad 1 or quad 2 with a 1-7 record in them. BCU has played two Power 4 teams (FSU and Miami) and lost both games.
However, baseball is an unpredictable sport, and upsets happen all the time. FSU should feel good about where they sit in this pairing. They get home-field advantage at Howser where they are 24-7. Northeastern has only lost nine games all season, but seven of them came on the road. Mississippi State is 9-9 in road games, but they are no stranger to playing in atmospheres like Howser, unlike Northeastern and BCU. The Wildcats are 10-11 in road games this season.
As previously mentioned, FSU already beat BCU in a midweek game this season, and although it was a hard-fought 9-7 win, facing the weekend starter is an entirely different challenge. If the Noles advance, the next challenge will be a tough one as Northeastern and Mississippi State are both solid squads. The starting pitching rotation has not yet been announced, however, head coach Link Jarrett said that all three weekend starters (Jamie Arnold, Joey Volini and Wes Mendes) are all available and ready to go.
The road to Omaha begins in Tallahassee, but should they advance to a super-regional, they will have to go on the road after finishing just one spot outside of the top 8 national seeds. The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will be paired with the winner of the Corvallis Regional consisting of (8) Oregon State, Saint Mary’s (CA), Southern California, and TCU. We wish the Noles the best as they prepare for the postseason and hopefully a return to Omaha. We can’t wait to see a packed Howser rocking! Thanks for reading and Go Noles!
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