Florida State baseball head coach Link Jarrett had no clear answer on Friday’s scheduled starter in game one of the NCAA super regional at Oregon State.
After a five-hour charter flight and a one-hour drive from Eugene to Corvallis on Wednesday, the ninth-seeded Seminoles will practice for the first time in Oregon on Thursday afternoon.
That practice session will be crucial to determine who starts. But Jarrett did confirm it will be either Jamie Arnold or Joey Volini in Friday’s (June 6) game one of the best-of-three-series at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
“Our guys are going to be in good shape. We wanted to get through this afternoon and let them do their work and make sure we were okay with how we viewed entering this thing,” Jarrett said Thursday on starting pitching. “Of the three guys that have started, how we would use those guys in terms of this thing may not get to the third game.
“So you have to prepare with every option you have based on your personnel.”
Jamie Arnold, Joey Volini the weekend starters for FSU baseball
While Jarrett said he didn’t have a game one starter, he tagged Arnold and Volini as the weekend starters, and the staff would find ways to get Wes Mendes involved. Mendes is coming off a career-high eight-inning, nine-strikeout performance in the Seminoles’ Tallahassee regional final win over Mississippi State.
“It’ll either be Jamie or Joey,” Jarrett said. “I think either way you slice it, we’re going to be okay. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I think either of them would be fine.”
The Oregon State lineup will present the Seminoles with a wealth of challenges, including the power-heavy threats of Aiva Arquette, Gavin Turley and Trent Caraway, who hit five home runs in five games in the Corvallis regional.
Regardless of which pitcher FSU throws, the Beavers’ lineup presents a stiff challenge for the trio of lefties.
Arnold recorded a season-high 13 strikeouts while tossing seven innings in his last outing, and he holds a 8-2 record and 3.12 ERA this season. Volini is 8-5 and holds a 3.68 ERA in his 15 appearances this year.
Of the three, Volini is the freshest, having thrown 45 pitches in his weather-impacted start vs. Bethune-Cookman. He was pulled from the game after a two and a half hour rain delay that forced FSU into an early regional bullpen game. Both Arnold and Mendes went deep, with seven and eight innings thrown, respectively.
With only two games guaranteed, Jarrett said you can’t plan for a game three until it becomes a realistic possibility. He and the Seminoles coaching staff have booked a private room in the hotel they are staying at in Oregon to review and discuss pitching plans ahead of game time.
“We’ll see what practice brings us. That’s an important piece of work for the guys,” Jarrett said. “We’ll go with it, and I’m going to do what I think is best for the individuals and the program, and then we have to deal with a tough Oregon State team.”
How to watch FSU baseball vs Oregon State in Super Regionals
FSU baseball vs Oregon State Super Regionals schedule
Friday, June 6
Saturday, June 7
Sunday, June 8
*if necessary
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: FSU baseball will start Jamie Arnold, Joey Volini in Super Regionals vs. Oregon State
Reporting by Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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