A look at Florida State’s starter.
The Tennessee Volunteers are again back in Omaha, this time as the No. 1 overall seed.
Its opponent, eighth-seeded Florida State, returns to Omaha for the first time in five years. The Seminoles are a familiar foe, but not in the way one would expect. Tennessee beat them 23-16 back in 1998 to win the college football national championship.
Per Warchant.com on X, Jamie Arnold is the expected starting pitcher against the Volunteers. The Sophomore left-hander from Tampa gives up an average of 4.5 hits per game, according to Seminoles.com. His season-high in strikeouts was 17 against Pittsburgh on May 10.
Arnold originally opened the season behind UCF transfer Cam Leiter. However, Leiter went out with an injury, and Arnold grew into his role as ace, pitching in the regional against UCF and against UConn in the Super Regionals. His last start in a game opener was against Virginia in the ACC Tournament, which is also in the CWS.
Of all pitchers in the College World Series this year, Arnold leads in wins (11), total strikeouts (155), innings pitched (100), and strikeouts per inning (1.54). He holds the second-best ERA in the CWS at 2.77. Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck is first at 1.66. Chris Stamos, who will start for the Vols, has an ERA of 4.02 and 35 strikeouts.
Why is this a potential problem for the Vols? LSU and Texas A&M were opponents in the SEC tournament it faced with similar numbers, though it won both games.
Tennessee’s style all year long has been power-hitting and run-scoring. It leads the SEC with a batting average of .310 and 697 hits, with 617 runs scored. However, it left many runners on base late in the season and postseason. To win against a solid pitcher, the Vols must avoid leaving runners on base. Also, Tennessee has had 15 total runners picked off this year, the most in the SEC.
Regarding the College World Series, Tennessee has the highest odds to win, at +290. Florida State’s odds are at +800, good for fifth out of eight teams.