Florida State CWS Preview

June 15, 2012
By

Florida State Seminoles
(Advanced through Tallahassee Regional and Tallahassee Super Regional)

Record: 48-15

Conference: ACC (Atlantic Division Champs )

Head Coach: Mike Martin (33rd season) ACC Coach of the Year

First Game In Omaha: Fri., June 15 vs. #4 national seed Arizona (8 CT; ESPN2)
Series vs. Arizona: Arizona leads series 6-5 (4-1 in Omaha)
Previous Meeting: Arizona 3, FSU 2 (Feb. 16, 1991 in Tucson, AZ) (send PL links to the recaps & final stats of prev. series meeting, if you can find them)

NCAA Tournament History:

James Ramsey

ROAD TO OMAHA

Florida State rolled through the regular season posting a 43-12 mark, including a 24-6 record in the ACC Regular season … the 24 wins tied the most by an ACC team and gave them the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament … The Noles posted 12 wins against ranked teams in the regular season … Unfortunately, FSU’s trip to the ACC Tournament was short lived as they went 0-3 in the round robin portion of the event … Things got back on track as they hosted the Tallahassee Regional and went 3-0 defeating UAB and Samford twice … the three wins extends their winning streak to 16 games at Regionals … At the Tallahassee Super Regional, they blitzed Stanford by a combined score of 35-8 (17-1, 18-7) to advance to their 21st CWS … Only the second time in the current format that FSU has swept the Regional and Super Regional.

HURTS SO GOOD

Florida State players have been hit by pitch 95 times this year, with five Noles being hit at least 9 times each.

THE FIRST ONE IS ALWAYS THE TOUGHEST

Despite making the College World Series 21 times, FSU has lost it’s opening game 12 times, including it’s last three … In addition, their first loss at the CWS in 4 of their last 5 appearances has been to a Pac-12 team.

DON’T COUNT THEM OUT

FSU has 18 come from behind wins this season, with six coming in the 7th inning or later

Roster Breakdown
… 5 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 2 Redshirt Sophomores, 2 Sophomores, 11 Freshmen
… home states: 22 from Florida … 3 from Georgia, 1 each from Illinois & Missouri.

They’re HERE!!  The Dugout in Omaha has official College World Series gear for each of the eight teams, including those Stony Brook Seawolves. If you want to be the first kid (no matter what age) on your block to have this year’s official CWS shirts, hats and more (both for individual teams or generic) click the red link and get to The Dugout’sweb site!

If you’re going to Omaha for the CWS you can also visit The Dugout. It’s right across the street from the home plate entrance to TD Ameritrade Park.

Probable Lineup

1. Sherman Johnson- 3B – 5’10/183 – Sr. – Tampa, FL  (Tallahassee All-Regional Team)
… .274, 35 RBI, 59 Runs, 4 HR, 0 Triples, 15 Doubles, .391 Slg.%, .444. Obp%, 65* BB, 8 HBP, 40 K, 4-5 SB
… Taken in the 14th Round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim … Has started 196 straight games … Brother is a pitcher for the team

 2. Devon Travis – 2B – 5’9/180 – Jr. – Wellington, FL (First Team All-ACC; 2nd Team All-American)
… .310, 40 RBI, 59 Runs, 7 HR, 0 Triples, 22* Doubles, .480 Slg.%, .382. Obp%, 26 BB, 5 HBP, 38 K, 7-8 SB
… Leads team in Grounded into Double plays
… Drafted in 13th Round by the Detroit Tigers

3. James Ramsey – CF – 6’0/190 – Sr. – Alpharetta, GA (ACC Player of the Year, Semifinalist for Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Award, First Team All-American, Academic All-America of the Year)
… .382, 57 RBI, 76* Runs, 13* HR, 6* Triples, 12 Doubles, .673* Slg.%, .519*. Obp%, 60 BB, 9 HBP, 39 K, 11-15 SB
…Has more triples than the entire team combined
…First round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals … Has started 196 straight games … Dad was captain of FSU’s ’80 CWS team … mom played tennis at FSU … member of the homecoming court.

4. Jayce Boyd – 1B – 6’3/200 – Jr. – Cantonment, FL
(First Team All-ACC, Second Team All-American, Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist)

… .389*, 59* RBI, 44 Runs, 4 HR, 0 Triples, 21 Doubles, .527 Slg.%, .467. Obp%, 36 BB, 4 HBP, 23 K, 8-9 SB
… Drafted in the sixth round by the New York Mets

5. Stephen McGee – C – 6’3/200 – R-So. – Port St. Lucie, FL (Johnny Bench Award Candidate)
… .243, 40 RBI, 34 Runs, 0 HR, 0 Triples, 9 Doubles, .291 Slg.%, .441. Obp%, 58 BB, 16* HBP, 28 K, 2-6 SB
…Thrown out 22 of 58 would be base stealers
… brother also played at FSU

6. Justin Gonzalez – SS – 6’2/200 – Jr. – Miami, FL (ACC All-Tournament Team)
… .242, 37 RBI, 41 Runs, 8 HR, 0 Triples, 9 Doubles, .412 Slg.%, .369. Obp%, 29 BB, 11 HBP, 71* K, 13-15 SB
… Leads team with 22 errors
… Chosen 27th by the Los Angeles Dodgers

7. Josh Delph –  RF – 6’0/175 – Fr. – Bartow, FL (Tallahassee Regional All-Tournament Team)
… .282, 20 RBI, 18 Runs, 0 HR, 0 Triples, 9 Doubles, .359 Slg.%, .366. Obp%, 11 BB, 5 HBP, 32 K, 3-4 SB
… Father played semi-pro baseball, while grandfather played college baseball

8. Stephen Spradling – DH – 6’0/205 – Jr. – Boyton Beach, FL
… .275, 4 RBI, 11 Runs, 0 HR, 0 Triples, 1 Doubles, .300 Slg.%, .482. Obp%, 4 BB, 12 HBP, 13 K, 0-1 SB

OR

8. John Holland – DH – 5’11/175 – Fr. – Johns Creek, GA
… .250, 8 RBI, 15 Runs, 0 HR, 0 Triples, 7 Doubles, .353 Slg.%, .378. Obp%, 10 BB, 4 HBP, 19 K, 1-1 SB
… Uncle Bob was FSU’s former clubhouse manager

9. Jose Brizuela – LF – 6’0/182 – Fr. – Weston, FL
… .226, 38 RBI, 33 Runs, 2 HR, 2 Triples, 12 Doubles, .330 Slg.%, .325. Obp%, 26 BB, 7 HBP, 42 K, 4-5 SB
… Leads outfielders with 8 assists

Starting Pitching

Brandon Leibrandt – 6’4/190 – Fr. – LHP – Alpharetta, GA (Freshman All-American)
… (8-2), 2.58 ERA, 94.1* IP, 78* K, 27 BB, .233 Opp BA (80 H)
… First FSU freshman to start on opening day … Father is former MLB pitcher Charlie Leibrandt.

Mike Compton – 6’2/195 – Fr. – RHP – Branson, MO (2nd Team All-ACC, Freshman All-American)
… (11-2), 2.86 ERA, 85.0 IP, 60 K, 26 BB, .260 Opp BA (83 H)
… Leads all freshman pitchers in wins

Scott Sitz – 5’10/210 – Jr.  – RHP – Jacksonville Beach, FL
… (3-3), 3.99 ERA, 58.2 IP, 42 K, 20 BB, .263 Opp BA (60 H)

Bullpen

Robert Benincasa – 6’2/195 – Jr. – RHP – Tampa FL (First Team All-ACC, Third Team All-American, Finalist for Stopper of the Year, Semifinalist for Dick Howser Award)
… 4-1, 1.25 ERA, 36.0 IP, 51 K, 6, BB, 15 SV, 30 APP, .169 Opp BA (22 H)
… Drafted in the seventh round by the Washington Nationals

Gage Smith – 6’1/190 – R.SO – RHP – Tallahassee, FL
… (5-0), 3.12 IP, 49.0 IP, 32 K, 14 BB, 3 SV, 37 APP, .259 Opp BA (49 H)
… Uncle Jerry played basketball for FSU

Brian Busch – 6’2/237 – SR – LHP – Boca Raton, FL
… (0-1), 5,25 ERA, 24.0 IP, 20 K, 17 BB, 0 SV, 27 APP, .314 Opp BA (32 H)

Bryant Holtman – 6’5/200 – FR – LHP – New Baden, IL
… (2-0), 3.47 ERA, 23.1 IP, 16 K, 9 BB, 0 SV, 22 APP, .236 Opp BA (21 H)

Kyle Bird – 6’2/170 – FR – LHP – Orange Park, FL
… (0-1), 6.75 ERA, 22.2 IP, 27 K, 19 BB, 0, 21 APP, .273 Opp BA (24 H)

Tags: , ,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *