When Florida State baseball walked off the field after Tuesday night’s 14-2 win over Jacksonville, the Seminoles skipped out on celebration and instead began packing for a cross-country road trip.
The No. 3 Seminoles left Tallahassee early Wednesday morning, hours after beating the Dolphins, to travel to the West Coast for a three-game ACC series against Cal.
It’s the first meeting between the two since the Golden Bears joined the conference and the 12-hour road trip provides a challenge on and off the field for the Seminoles.
“We were back at the field about 6:30, 6:45 yesterday morning, the guys had the load packed. Laundry had to be done, so the managers are trying to flip everything. Around 8:00 a.m., we are on the bus to the airport check-in. That’s a challenge on a commercial flight, but the cost of some of these things, you have to allocate your funding where you think it’s best suited,” FSU head coach Link Jarrett said.
“We had basically 30 minutes between flights, which then got trimmed to about 15 minutes. They held the plane for us, Drew [Linder] and I tried to figure out a way to get food. So the Chick-fil-A in the airport was kind enough to deliver food. So as we raced through the gate to get onto the plane, the guys had some food, because that’s a five-hour flight, and they really wouldn’t have eaten if the folks in the airport hadn’t cooperated and allowed us to grab something. So we got to the hotel at 8:00 p.m. at night, Eastern Time, 5:00 p.m., Pacific.”
“There’s a lot that goes into when we walked off that field Tuesday to get to where we sit this morning. It’s complex. It takes a lot of logistics, but here we are.”
The Seminoles left a day early to build in time to acclimate to the West Coast.
With that, FSU needed a place to practice on Thursday, and a familiar face helped offer a solution.
FSU baseball and San Francisco Giants legend Buster Posey is currently the president of baseball operations for the Giants, and he and FSU’s Drew Linder, director of baseball operations, and Randy Burdette, director of program development, came together to get the Seminoles a chance to practice at Oracle Park.
Jarrett said it’s a one-of-a-kind experience for the Seminoles program and a chance to give his players an opportunity to experience a big league ball park.
“They’re going to see some things that will change their lives forever, when you get to go on to that major league field,” Jarrett said. “I hope every one of these guys gets a chance to play in a major league stadium one day as a player.”
With the travel done, the team’s focus shifts to its three-game conference series agaisnt Cal. The Golden Bears rank last in the ACC standings with a 6-18 conference record, despite that, Jarrett wants his team to be ready for a competitive series.
Cal will start Cole Tremain, who holds a 4-5 and 3.26 ERA, and he drew praise from Jarrett. Tremain will face a red-hot Seminoles offense that has scored 42 runs in the last four games, with Drew Faurot on a three-game hit streak that has included eight consecutive hits, with four being home runs.
Faurot is hitting .321 this season, with 13 home runs, ranked third best on the team, 42 RBI on 52 hits.
“Just a beautiful run, incredible,” Jarrett said on Faurot. “The vision and how he feels in the box is just such a rare experience as a player, and I want Faurot to just go do his thing.”
How to watch FSU baseball vs. Cal
FSU vs. Cal
When: Friday, May 9, 9 p.m. / Saturday, May 10, 5 p.m. / Sunday, May 11, 4 p.m.
Where: Evans Diamond at Stu Gordon Stadium | Berkeley, California
Watch: ACC Network Extra / WFLA 100.7 FM
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: No. 3 FSU baseball embracing challenges of first West Coast ACC series against Cal
Reporting by Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
