No. 8 Florida State looks to take series over Notre Dame: Preview, how to watch, game thread

No. 8 Florida State baseball (26-11, 10-6) looks to get back on track in ACC play as the Seminoles welcome Link Jarrett’s former team, Notre Dame (17-16, 7-112, to Tallahassee as part of Seminole Spring weekend. On Friday, FSU baseball will host its annual Seminole Heritage game.

The Seminoles took game one of the series, 11-0, in a seven-inning run-rule win. Wes Mendes struck out seven across six scoreless frames before Brodie Purcell posted a zero in the seventh to preserve the shutout. On the offensive side, a seven-run sixth, capped off by three-run homers from John Stuetzer and Eli Putnam, put the game out of reach.

Last time out, the Noles snapped a four-game losing streak with a 9-2 home win over Stetson. While the game was much closer than the score indicated, Hunter Carns carried the Seminole lineup, racking up three hits and five RBI, including a three-run homer, as he looks to be the most dangerous hitter in the lineup with Myles Bailey out for the year. However, outside of Carns, there are still far too many empty at-bats and poor decisions littered throughout the roster, including three errors and 10 strikeouts on Tuesday night.

Jarrett will be looking for his team to take a step against Notre Dame this weekend as Florida State begins the back half of its 10-game ACC weekend schedule. Switching gears to this weekend, a staple of Florida State’s group this season, its starting pitching, may be without one of its weekend arms, Bryson Moore. In Moore’s last start on Saturday, he only went 3.