Link Jarrett: 'Our regional is as hard as anybody's'
The NCAA college baseball tournament field of 64 has been set and regional host sites have been announced. This year, the Florida State Seminoles, under head coach Link Jarrett’s leadership, earned the right to host as a top 8 seed.
In the Tallahassee regional, Florida State will be joined by the second-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide, the third-seeded UCF Knights, and the fourth-seeded Stetson Hatters. I haven’t started the opening round. Jarrett discussed the Seminoles’ opponents well, proclaiming that the Tallahassee regional ‘is as hard as anybody’s.’
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“I think when you look at the overall bracketing; I think our regional is as hard as anybody’s,” said Jarrett. “You have three really, really good teams coming in here. I mean, really good— Stetson is a strong team. UCF [is] talented. Two of our former Notre Dame players are on that UCF squad. And Rich (Wallace) was with me at Notre Dame; he was with us here at Florida State last year. [He’s a] great recruiter and a great coach. The University of Alabama, we played them in the fall. We know that roster. Everybody knows what they’ve been through in their league. It’s really a challenge for them to manage the weekends and some of the stretch runs you have to have in that league.”
It will be no easy task for Florida State to come out of their regional round unscathed. Still look for link and crew to lean on their explosive offense and arms in the bullpen led by ace pitcher Jamie Arnold.
Jarrett offers optimistic outlook for Florida State pitcher
Cam Leiter could be back for Florida State’s NCAA Tournament run, according to head coach Link Jarrett.
That’s a welcome sign for the Seminoles after falling just short of an ACC title to Duke. Leiter hasn’t pitched since March 28.
The ace, who started the season 5-1 and with a 4.63 ERA, is ramping up the bullpen sessions, according to Jarrett.
Yeah, he’s chomping at the bit and at the whole luncheon he was telling me he’s ready to go and this and that,” Jarrett said. “So we need to get him another good bullpen session. So we’ll lengthen that out again for him. He’ll throw a little bit today and then prepare for his bullpen Wednesday. If things hold true to how we have planned this and how he feels, then he’ll be available this weekend. Not to start, but in any way that we can involve him in it.
“You know, it’s a really high powered, weaponized arm. So we’ll see how the next several days go but that’s the hope and plan.”