The Florida State Seminoles was named the number 6 seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and was named the host of the Tallahassee Regional. They will be joined by Mississippi State, Stetson, and Bethune-Cookman.
Florida State (47-11)
The Florida State Seminoles enter this weekend after losing two out of three games in the ACC Tournament to put their overall record at 47-11. They are led by All-American candidates Bryan Henry and Tony Thomas Jr. Henry was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year after going a perfect 14-0 in his first 16 starts but picked up a loss in the ACC Tournament as he lost a 5-1 decision to Clemson. Tony Thomas Jr. has been hitting the ball well throughout the season as he is one of the top hitters in the country with his .442 average. He also has 32 doubles and 30 stolen bases in only 58 games. The Seminoles open the tournament by playing Bethune-Cookman at 7 pm on Friday.
Mississippi State
The Mississippi State Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tourney with an at-large berth after finishing the season with a 33-20 overall record and 15-13 in the SEC. They are led by Brandon Turner who leads the team with a .407 batting average. Edward Easley leads the team with twelve homers on the season and is hitting at an impressive .373 average. The Bulldog starting pitching is weak with Justin Pigott leading the team in starts but has a 5-6 record with an ERA of 4.63. The other starting pitcher is Josh Johnson who is 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA in 12 starts. Mississippi State opens the tournament on Friday at 1pm when they play Stetson.
Mississippi State Tourney Notes
Stetson
The Stetson Hatters enter the weekend as the Regular Season Champion of the Atlantic Sun Conference and reached the semifinals of the Conference Tournament so they picked up an at-large berth with a 41-19 overall record. The Hatters are led by 27th year head coach Pete Dunn who has won over a thousand games in his illustrious career. They are led by a strong pitching staff which has a staff ERA of 3.65. The top starter is Corey Kluber who has an 11-2 record with a slim ERA of 2.19. Number 2 starter Chris Ingoglia has a 9-5 mark and 2.98 ERA with four complete games. Robbie Elsemiller is the closer on the team and has a record of 3-1 with 12 saves and an ERA of 2.32. Justin Bass leads the team in hitting with a batting average of .365 and Shane Jordan is right behind him at .355. Stetson opens the weekend at 1 pm against Mississippi State on Friday.
Bethune-Cookman
Bethune-Cookman won the MEAC Conference Tournament to receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They enter the weekend with an overall record of 33-25. The head coach is Mervyl Melendez who is in his eighth season with the school. He is led by Angel Mercado who is hitting .400 for the season in 52 games. Dustin Blackwell is the top pitcher for BCC with a 8-5 record and a 2.86 ERA. After looking over the BCC roster, the coaching staff is making a strong commitment to recruiting kids from Puerto Rico to give them the opportunity to play college baseball.
The CBB predicts that Florida State will win the regional but the sleeper team is Stetson with their strong pitching staff and could surprise some teams.
