When teams tell you who they are, believe them.
For Florida State baseball this season, the Tallahassee Regional was a microcosm of their entire 2026 season. The Seminoles never backed down as their pitching took them as far as it could, but when the game and series went off script, head coach Link Jarrett did not have enough tools in his shed to solve the problems he faced.
In the end, the magic number of runs Florida State baseball needed to win games this season was four or fewer. In the two games they
won, their opponents scored four and two. In the two games they lost, St. John’s scored five and six.
In today’s college baseball landscape, that just is not enough, and the Seminoles are going home because of it.
3 Up
No. 1: Weekend rotation
All season long, the strength of the Florida State team was its three weekend arms. Even though it was a smaller sample size than desired, all three delivered when called.
Starting with Bryson Moore, he did what he was asked, and five innings of two-run ball should have been enough for FSU to get over the line and into the winner’s bracket. Ideally, he would have gone longer, but SJU averaged nearly five pitches per at-bat, which limited his outing. Even with the rain delay and his first career postseason start, the right-hander did his job, walking only one batter and striking out six to make the Red Storm earn everything.
A day later, Wes Mendes was also ready to go when it was his turn to toe the rubber. Of the 16 batters he faced, the ACC Pitcher of the Year struck out eight. At only 51 pitches, he was destined to work deep into the ballgame before the rain delay, and it is a shame that Mendes likely threw his final pitch in an FSU uniform. He turned himself from a toolsy, erratic arm into a pitcher with multiple breaking balls and someone who can carry the expectations of a weekend rotation and team. In a way, it was similar to how Jamie Arnold matured over his time in Tallahassee.
With Saturday’s game pushed into Sunday, Link Jarrett turned to Trey Beard to lock down a 2-1 lead. The FAU transfer had his best stuff all season, going four innings of shutout ball while punching out nine of the 14 batters he faced. While some disagreed with the decision to throw Beard, I thought it was the right call, and Jarrett was vindicated. It was an up-and-down year for the lefty, but when Florida State needed him, he answered the call.
In all, the three starting pitchers went 13 innings and allowed only three earned runs while striking out 23 batters. If the regional had been only 27 innings long, it likely would have been enough to get FSU to supers. Unfortunately, it was not, but that has nothing to do with three weekend arms. They were one of the only reasons the Seminoles were in a position to host and battle, given the circumstances.
No. 2: Team captains
When Jarrett submitted his lineup card on Monday morning, only two players in the batting order had played in a Florida State baseball game in at least three consecutive years: Ben Barrett and Cal Fisher (Brody DeLamielleure was a redshirt in 2024). Boy, did those two drag their team into the fight.
Starting with Fisher, he would be the first to say that 2026 did not go the way he wanted. But when the lights were the brightest, he was the best hitter in the FSU lineup. The third baseman went 7-for-13 in the Tallahassee regional with a double, three homers, four RBI, and four runs scored with two walks and only one strikeout. His solo shot against Coastal Carolina proved to be the difference in the game. On Monday, he drove in three of Florida State’s four runs, including a two-run shot in the ninth to pull the Noles within one. He brought his confidence at the plate into the field, playing with poise and intelligence at third base. It was a regional performance worthy of a captain, taking the monkey off his back after a difficult year.
Just as Fisher started to get going, so too did Barrett, another team captain who had a strange 2026 season. Barrett had not taken a swing in a live game since 2023 before May, yet may have been the most threatening force in the Seminoles’ lineup in the Tallahassee regional. After a difficult game one and a 1-4 day against CCU, the first baseman erupted versus Northern Illinois, going 3-for-5 with a double, a homer, two RBI, and two runs scored. His 10th-inning blast put the game out of reach and propelled FSU into the regional final. On Monday, he went 2-for-4 with a double, the only other extra-base hit for Florida State besides Fisher’s homers, and threatened every time he came to the plate.
Barrett and Fisher drew the ire of fans all season long, and after seeing the way these two performed in the regional, the only question fans are wondering now is what the season would have looked like if they played this way the entire year?
No. 3: Resolve
In the world of college athletics, creating a meaningful culture can be hard to come by and even harder to maintain. But for FSU baseball, they have proven their resolve in postseason play over the last three seasons, especially in 2026.
It did not take a baseball junkie to see the limitations on this team with Myles Bailey, and certainly without. It was clear that it would take a miracle to come out of the loser’s bracket, given how this team was designed. But Jarrett’s team deserves credit. On Saturday/Sunday against CCU, they went down 1-0, fought back to retake the lead, and avoided going 0-2 in their own regional. Against NIU, Florida State fell behind after seven, manufactured a run with a hit-and-run in the eighth, and posted three-straight zeros to secure the win. Even in the second loss to St. John’s, Fisher’s blast pulled his team within a run, and the tying run reached base, all in the ninth inning.
A year ago, FSU lost a crushing game one to Oregon State, but took game two, forcing a winner-take-all. In 2024, the Seminoles also lost in devastating fashion to Tennessee, but never rolled over, and fought their way through the loser’s bracket to be one of the final four teams left standing. On the one hand, the obvious question here is when the meltdowns will end. But, even when they occur, Jarrett has implemented a culture in four years at the helm that translates from year to year.
3 Down
No. 1: Hitting with runners on
All three of these shortcomings were the same the whole season, and it is not a shock that they are the three listed here.
Hitting with runners in scoring position was an issue that was never remedied during the year, and came up at the worst time this weekend. In the two games against the Red Storm, Florida State combined to hit 3-for-18 (.167) with runners in scoring position and 7-for-33 (.212) with runners on base. In each game, FSU squandered massive opportunities to either climb back into the game or push their lead out, which ended up causing their defeats. The two worst examples were in the first and ninth innings, when Florida State had two on and nobody out but did not score. In the regional final, Jarrett’s team also had two on with nobody out in the seventh, but the top of the lineup went down in order.
The main reason for the lack of success with runners in scoring position is FSU’s inability to string together quality at-bats. There was always inconsistency at some point in the batting order, and the lineup never had the veracity to constantly turn itself over, as Jarrett likes to say. If the Noles were to come out of the loser’s bracket, they needed one massive game from their offense to save the bullpen. That was clearly too much to ask.
No. 2: Defensive savvy
It is fitting for this Florida State team that the run that sent them home was unearned.
All season long, Jarrett’s team never seemed comfortable in the field. Losing Bailey certainly hurt, as his defense was becoming just as good as his play at the plate. But even with Bailey, having to replace so much up the middle from a season ago was something too much for FSU to overcome. Sure, there were some incredible diving grabs and pick-off moves over the weekend, but more often than not, the defensive play was not good enough to win a regional. Whether it was the passed balls and wild pitches on Friday, the dropped ball in the lights on Sunday, the catcher’s interference, or the error on the soft liner on Monday… should I continue? The point is that the last two seasons, the defense could be relied upon and was a strength of FSU, and it never got to that point in 2026. Jarrett has a lot to think about in the offseason, and defensive play will be at the top of the list.
No. 3: Bullpen management
Count me as a believer in throwing Beard to close out Coastal Carolina on Sunday. I had no qualms with that decision, and it was not the reason the bullpen was mismanaged during the regional.
The first issue was what happened with John Abraham. As Jarrett told the local Tallahassee media on Monday, FSU would not be in the position they are in without him, and the coaching staff trusted him, as they should. But it was clear, after the injury, he was not his usual 2026 self. The Seminoles could not win this regional without Abraham, so the decision process makes sense, but there were not enough in-game adjustments to the pitcher on the mound and not the name on the jersey. On Friday, the game was tied in the ninth inning, yet Jarrett sent Abraham back out after two runs, not charged to him, a walk, and two wild pitches in the eighth. Of course, the head coach did not want to burn his three best relievers in game one, but he needed to go with Brodie Purcell or someone else. Instead, the Red Storm took the lead in the ninth, and Abraham took the loss, along with throwing 38 pitches.
The same situation occurred on Monday, as Abraham did not have it, yet Jarrett stuck with him with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. The first pitch was a grand slam. Again, the head coach needed to try and steal as many outs as he could, and only getting five from Abraham when he needed 54 on the day seemed almost unfathomable. However, that decision proved to be the difference in the game.
The other bullpen issue was a season-long problem, as Jarrett and Micah Posey really only trusted three guys during the weekend series. Payton Manca, Kevin Mebil, and Gabe Nard, who had only a combined 32 appearances on the year coming into Monday, pitched admirably. Some of that was due to injury and build-up, but if they had more in-game experience, maybe they could have been more useful than closing out the final three innings of Florida State’s loss to St. John’s on Monday?
Abraham was one of the best relievers in baseball, and Jarrett wanted to go down with his guys. But as the calendar flips to 2027, there needs to be more development of the entire bullpen, not just a few players.
