1 Florida State Seminoles
Tallahassee, Florida
Automatic bid – ACC Champions
2017 record: 14-14 ACC, 39-20
Head coach: Mike Martin (Florida State, 1966)
Record at school: 1,937-691-4 (38 years)
Overall record: same
Assistant coaches: Mike Bell, Mike Martin Jr., Clyde Keller
Team offense: .269 BA, 429 R, 61 HR, .426 SLG%, .391 OBP%, 54-68 SB
Team pitching: 3.98 ERA, 520.1 IP, 486 H, 184 BB, 521 K
Top hitters: Rhett Aplin (.322/6/24), Jackson Lueck (.321/8/45), Dylan Busby (.319/13/54), Quincy Nieporte (.296/9/70)
Top pitchers: Tyler Holton (9-2, 2.43 ERA, 96.1 IP, 57 J, 25 BB, 119 K), Drew Parrish (5-3, 5.20 ERA, 71 IP, 72 H, 22 BB, 63 K), Cole Sands (6-3, 5.30 ERA, 74.2 IP, 76 H, 26 BB, 62 K), Drew Carlton (3-3, 1.94 ERA, 5 Sv, 51 IP, 51 H, 12 BB, 45 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (3-0 in Tallahassee Regional, 1-2 in Gainesville Super Regional)
Notes: Coming off of their 3rd straight ACC Tournament finals appearance, and second title in the last 3 years, Florida State is playing some of their best baseball of the year going 12-2 in May and playing themselves into hosting a regional. The city of Louisville was kind to the Noles as they won four straight to win the ACC tournament title after winning two at U of L, the first time the Cardinals have dropped an ACC series at home.
After being ranked as high as #1 in country, the Seminoles fell out of the polls after losing a series at NC State dropping to 21-13 overall. This is FSU’s 38th consecutive NCAA appearance. WarrenNolan.com has FSU’s schedule as the toughest in the country.
The depth of starting pitching has not been a strong suit for FSU this year but they do have one of the best in lefty sophomore Tyler Holton who was named ACC Pitcher of the Week five times this year. Holton, an all-ACC first team selection, led the ACC in wins and innings pitched and was second in strikeouts. The bullpen has picked up the slack posting a 3.50 ERA as unit inflated by giving up 10 runs in 2.2 innings on 3/19 at VT.
The 12 runs they scored against Louisville in the opener are the most the Cards have given up all year. A second-team all-ACC selection, Nieporte’s 70 RBIs are the most for FSU since 2010. Busby is the ACC’s active leader in home runs.
2 UCF Knights
Orlando, Florida
At-large bid from American
2017 record: 15-9, 40-20 (first in the American)
Head coach: Greg Lovelady (Miami, 2001)
Record at school: 40-20 (1 year)
Overall record: 164-76 (4 years)
Assistant coaches: Justin Parker, Ryan Klosterman, Ryan Breen
Team offense: .282 BA, 579 R, 49 HR, .424 SLG%, .368 OBP%, 106-122 SB
Team pitching: 4.55 ERA, 466.2 IP, 460 H, 207 BB, 320 K
Top hitters: Eli Putnam (.321/8/39), Kyle Marsh (.314/6/52), Rylan Thomas (.305/13/52), Luke Hamblin (.301/1/34/19-22), Anthony George (.294/1/10), Kam Gellinger (.289/2/29), Matthew Mike (.277/0/27/25-27 SB)
Top pitchers: Eric Hepple (0-0, 0.46, 19.2 IP, 10 H, 7 BB, 21 K), Bryce Tucker (2-2, 9 SV, 1.75, 36 IP, 18 H, 11 BB, 53 K), Jordan Scheftz (1-2, 1.76, 30.2 IP, 17 H, 19 BB, 40 K), Thaddeus Ward (4-0, 2.29, 35.1 IP, 36 H, 12 BB, 32 K), Trent Thompson (0-2, 2.35, 30.2 IP, 21 H, 13 BB, 31 K), Chris Williams (5-3, 2.43, 74 IP, 55 H, 18 BB, 46 K), Jason Bahr (0-2, 2.35, 57.2 IP, 38 H, 14 BB, 89 K), Joseph Sheridan (10-4, 3.25, 72 IP, 74 H, 24 BB, 64 K), Robby Howell (10-0, 3.28, 96 IP, 83 H, 37 BB, 90 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2012 (2-2 at Coral Gables Regional)
Notes: UCF is back in the field for the first time since 2012, when they reached the Regional final but fell twice to eventual Omaha surprise Stony Brook. First-year coach Greg Lovelady won two national titles as a player with Miami. The Knights ranked fourth in the nation in ERA and seventh in WHIP in winning 15 more games than they did in 2016. Robby Howell and Joseph Sheridan were sixth in the land with 10 wins. Opponents hit .146 off Bryce Tucker, and not much better off fellow relievers Eric Hepple (.156), Jordan Scheftz (.160) and Trent Thompson (.193) and Jason Bahr (.184), who has 89 Ks in only 57.2 IP.
3 Auburn Tigers
Auburn, Alabama
At-large bid from SEC
2017 record: 16-14, 35-24 (tied for fourth in SEC West)
Head coach: Butch Thompson (Birmingham-Southern, 1992)
Record at school: 58-57 (2 years)
Overall record: 97-69 (3 years)
Assistant coaches: Brad Bohannon, Doug Sisson, Greg Drye
Team offense: .275 BA, 344 R, 28 HR, .390 SLG%, .369 OBP%, 53-73 SB
Team pitching: 4.33 ERA, 525.1 IP, 526 H, 170 BB, 446 K
Top hitters: Jonah Todd (385/0/36), Conor Davis (.288/1/29), Luke Jarvis (.282/5/25), Daniel Robert (.282/5/40/11-12 SB), Josh Anthony (.269/2/35), Dylan Ingram (.267/8/39), Jay Estes (.267/0/25)
Top pitchers: Casey Mize (7-2 1.93, 74.2 IP, 59 H, 8 BB, 97 K), Keegan Thompson (6-4, 2.43, 85.1 IP, 63 H, 16 BB, 66 K), Cole Lipscomb (4-0, 3.11, 6 SV, 46.1 IP, 39 H, 11 BB, 38 K), Calvin Coker (3-3 4.18, 2 SV, 47.1 IP, 50 H, 12 BB, 39 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2015 (1-2 at Tallahassee Regional)
Notes: Auburn is making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Tigers are 4-1 all-time against UCF. The teams met four times during the 1993 season, twice in Auburn and twice in Orlando. They met once in 1998 in Kissimmee, Fla. Auburn has won the past three meetings. The Tigers are 12-6 in one-run games after going 1-11 in one-run games a season ago. Senior catcher Blake Logan hit .429 in the SEC Tournament and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Junior outfielder Jonah Todd was All-SEC Second Team and a member of the SEC All-Defensive Team. Head coach Butch Thompson was an assistant at Auburn from 2006-08 and spent seven years as associate head coach and pitching coach at Mississippi State.
4 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
Cookeville, Tennessee
Automatic bid – Ohio Valley Champions
2017 record: 23-7 (OVC), 40-19
Head coach: Matt Bragga (Kentucky, 1994)
Record at school: 392-378-2 (14 years)
Overall record: 517-472-2 (18 years)
Assistant coaches: Justin Holmes, Derek Weldon
Team offense: .320 BA, 495 R, 97 HR, .528 SLG%, .393 OBP%, 41-49 SB
Team pitching: 5.29 ERA, 525.2 IP, 555 H, 209 BB, 547 K
Top hitters: Ryan Flick (.384/18/70), Collin Harris (.332/10/35), Alex Junior (.324/5/35), Chris Brown (.316/11/50), Chase Chambers (.306/17/60)
Top pitchers: Michael Wood (8-4, 5.34 ERA, 84.1 IP, 96 H, 22 BB, 78 K), Jake Usher (5-2, 5.48 ERA, 69 IP, 68 H, 32 BB, 56 K), Ty King (3-0, 2.01 ERA, 31.1 IP, 24 H, 17 BB, 42 K), Ethan Roberts (1-3, 3.65 ERA, 13 Sv, 44.1 IP, 38 H, 12 BB, 73 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2009 (1-2 at Clemson Regional)
Notes: Power best describes the Golden Eagles approach on both sides of the field setting school records this year in extra base hits, home runs and from the mount strikeouts per nine innings. They average more than a strikeout per inning (9.4, t-10 nationally). TTU’s 97 home runs leads the country and they rank second in slugging percentage and fourth in runs scored. Five TTU players hit at least 10 homers. Defensive whiz shortstop David Garza was the offense’s only first-team all-OVC selection. A freshman all-American last year, Roberts was a first-team all-OVC selection this year striking out 73 in 44.1 IP with opponents only hitting .226 against him. Wood was a second-team all-OVC selection and his year including a 5-hit shutout against MEAC champion Bethune-Cookman. The staff’s 547 strikeouts was 50 more than the second best team in the OVC and their .270 opponents’ batting average was tops in the league. TTU was the top seed in the OVC tournament and wrapped up the regular season crown during their second-to-last weekend series. The only dropped two conference series and scored 38 runs in 3 games to breeze to the league title, led by tournament MVP Flick who hit .429 with 5 HR and 16 RBI.