3 Up, 3 Down: Florida State’s west coast implosion blows up top 8 seed chances

The Florida State Seminoles hosted the Florida Gators at Dick Howser Stadium on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. | Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Heading into the Stanford series, Florida State baseball appeared to be turning a corner. The Noles were winners of five in a row and just swept Notre Dame to put themselves back in contention for a top-four seed in the ACC tournament after getting swept by Georgia Tech the weekend prior.

Florida State’s sweep of the Irish also meant that FSU went 4-1 in the first half of its ACC schedule, a much more challenging docket than the Seminoles’ final five weekend sets of the season. While heading west is rarely easy, the Cardinal came into Friday under . 500 after a home series defeat to Miami.

Then this weekend happened. Link Jarrett’s team, which took a multi-run lead in every game this weekend, melted down. The offense never found the timely knock to put the game out of reach.

FSU’s defense often let them down at the worst moments, and the pitching staff could not carry an oversized load on its shoulders. Getting swept in Atlanta could be brushed aside and looked at as a mulligan, but there are no excuses for this weekend. Florida State made a West Coast trip twice last season.