Daniel Cantu on Florida State baseball: 'We're here to stay'

Florida State first baseman Daniel Cantu is experiencing a dream season after transferring from USF, having now helped take the Seminoles to the College World Series.

For transfers and newcomers like Cantu, the allure of competing for the national championship was key. Cam Leiter even noted this week that a chance for a title was the motivation behind his coming to Tallahassee this year, and when that comment was brought up to Cantu, he explained why FSU stuck out so much to him.

“I saw what Coach Jarrett was building over here at FSU, and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Cantu. “He brought in some really great guys to get us back here, and we all — he did a really great job helping blend this team together and help us create that team chemistry, and we created a great family chemistry.”

Cantu believes this group has found the magic, and they aren’t just in Omaha to compete; they’ve arrived with plans of winning the whole thing.

“Yeah, we built that and got a winning culture back at FSU,” added Cantu. “And we’re here to stay, and we’re here to win.”

Heading into this spring, getting that winning culture back was priority No. 1 for Link Jarrett, since Florida State experienced a brutal 2023 season, finishing eight games below .500 on the year as they didn’t even sniff NCAA Tournament contention. But with additions like Cantu and growth from guys already there, FSU was able to spark a massive turnaround this season.

“We weren’t a part of last year’s team, but hearing what went on last year, we definitely wanted to come in and make a difference and help this team win,” added Cantu.

For him and the rest of the group, the goal was to “build a winning culture again” and “get back on track and back to the promised land in Omaha.” Well, per Cantu: “That’s exactly what we did.”

To get there, the FSU posted a 47-15 overall record on the year and then won its regionals. They throttled the UConn Huskies in their first game of the Tallahassee Super Regional with a historic 24-4 victory, then got the job done in extra innings in the second game to advance to Omaha.

The No. 8 seed Florida State Seminoles will kick off their College World Series run against the No. 1 overall seed Tennessee Volunteers on Friday, June 14. The game will start at 7:00 PM EST with the broadcast coming to you via ESPN and/or ESPN+.