Weekend Preview: ACC Baseball Powers Clash

Florida State and North Carolina are perennially among the top teams in the country and certainly in the Atlantic Coast Conference—two baseball programs with rich and storied histories.

Yet, over the last few years, the Seminoles and Tar Heels have rarely matched up during the regular season. Their last series meeting came in Chapel Hill in 2014. The last time UNC went to Tallahassee was in 2011.

That all changes this weekend, as No. 7 UNC will make the trek south to take on No. 12 FSU.

“We’re looking forward to playing North Carolina,” FSU head coach Mike Martin said. “We haven’t had the pleasure of competing against them at our place in six years. It’s normally a very good series.”

The series offers plenty of intrigue on multiple levels. The Tar Heels come in having won each of their first three ACC series and have made a steady climb up the College Top 25. Florida State, on the other hand, has slid from its preseason No. 2 ranking. The up-and-down Seminoles are coming off a 4-1 midweek loss to No. 8 Florida and have battled some injury issues. They’ve won two of three ACC series—with a surprising series loss to Virginia Tech.

For both teams, this weekend will represent the toughest test each has faced so far. That begins on Friday, as FSU will have to contend with junior ace righthander J.B. Bukauskas for the first time. Bukauskas, 4-0, 0.90, has been one of, if not the best starting pitcher in the country this season and will likely be one of the first pitchers taken in June’s draft.

“We have not seen Bukauskas, but we know he is the real deal,” Martin said. “There is a lot of respect in this camp for that man. He’s been lights-out for a good while.”

Behind Bukauskas is freshman righthander Luca Dalatri (2-2, 2.59), who has already been a workhorse in his young Tar Heel career. Sunday’s starter has yet to be announced. Both junior righthander Jason Morgan and, most recently, sophomore righthander Cole Aker have made Sunday starts for the Tar Heels and could potentially earn that nod; sophomore righthander Rodney Hutchison could be in the mix, as well.

Starting pitching for the Seminoles has been a point of concern at times this year but seems to be on the upswing. Sophomore righthander Cole Sands (4-1, 3.45) has the best pure stuff of the group, while sophomore lefthander Tyler Holton (4-0, 2.31) has provided the most consistency on Saturdays. Freshman lefthander Drew Parrish (3-1, 3.69) is the newest to the mix, but he’s stabilized Sundays, coming off a strong complete-game effort against Notre Dame in which he allowed just one unearned run on three hits.

“I’m just seeing a young man grow up,” Martin said of Parrish. “He’s really got a great demeanor, fields his position, he can run, he can throw. If he was not a pitcher, he’d probably be a guy who’s competing for a spot in the outfield, same with Tyler Holton.”

In terms of hitters, UNC is led by junior shortstop Logan Warmoth (.333/.422/.576) and junior center fielder Brian Miller (.311/.392/.453), both of whom have made rapid rises up draft boards.

Florida State, meanwhile, hasn’t yet had its full starting lineup intact. Freshman Drew Mendoza, one of the best prep hitters in the 2016 draft class, has yet to play with a broken thumb. But Martin said Mendoza is about a week away from playing, and he could provide a significant impact.

Dylan Busby (.265/.324/.480) and Cal Raleigh (.235/.336/.402) haven’t produced offensively as they did a year ago, with Busby nursing a sore shoulder. But senior Quincy Nieporte has supplied plenty of juice, hitting four grand slams this season, and the return of switch-hitting sophomore Jackson Lueck from injury adds length to the lineup.

Those bats, for at least one more weekend without Mendoza, will face a stiff challenge this weekend.

“We’ve been so-called stymied many times because, of course, good pitching’s always going to overmatch hitters,” Martin said. “Playing Florida (on Tuesday), I mean, we didn’t do anything to write home about.

“We just know that pitching can be the true answer, and North Carolina is certainly a team that is proving that.”