Link Jarrett shares where Jamie Arnold has improved

Outfielder Jordan Williams stole the show on Sunday for Florida State, hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Seminoles a 4-3 win over No. 1 ranked Wake Forest. But the Seminoles couldn’t have got their upset win without the help of freshman pitcher Jamie Arnold.

Arnold had a career day for Florida State, and after the game, head coach Link Jarrett spoke about his steady improvement throughout the season.

“I thought Jamie did a nice job,” Jarrett said. “We still have to figure out the secondary pitches, it’s hard to consistently perform at this level if you don’t have a really good secondary pitch in play. And I thought he started to show a little bit of it and that’s just the next facet of his game, is really coming up with something that you can throw not just with two strikes but in any count.”

Arnold may still be in the process of building out his arsenal of off-speed pitches, but he delivered on Sunday,  pitching a career-high 5.1 innings with six strikeouts in his eighth career start for Florida State.

Link elaborated on how adding a greater variety of pitches takes time, even for a former ACC Pitcher of the Year winner that was in the opposing dugout for this matchup. But according to Link, Arnold is well on his way and headed in the right direction.

“Like a really good 0-0 slider or a really good 1-0 changeup, and how many freshman can do that? Maybe not many, I remember (Rhett) Lowder when he was a freshman, and some of that takes time and experience. But I think he’s gotten a little bit better, you can look at that outing today and backtrack a month or so and think about some of the outings there, it was pretty good,” Jarrett said. “So it will come.”

Additionally, Arnold has a good foundation to work with in developing a secondary, off-speed pitch. And when he does add that to his toolbox, it could be trouble for opposing ACC batters.

“He can spin the ball. If you can’t spin it, it’s hard to ever figure out how to really spin a good breaking ball. He’s got it, it’s just his arm action is a little tricky for him to repeat, and manage, and really rip those things. And he’ll get the change up to, and once he does that, that good, lively fastball is just going to play more. He’s just not gonna have to throw it as much as he does,” Jarrett explained.

The Seminoles recorded just their seventh conference win of the season with their victory over the top-ranked Demon Deacons, as they face Kennesaw State in their last home game of the regular season on Tuesday.