Florida State wrapped its second week of fall ball on Friday with a 4.5-inning scrimmage, and the Seminoles got plenty of action on both sides of the ball.
On the mound, Cayden Suchy got the day started and made quick work of his inning. The UConn transfer faced four batters, retired all four, and finished with a strikeout after generating weak contact from the first three hitters.
His fastball sat 90-92 and he located it well to both sides of the plate. Suchy also mixed in an 83 MPH changeup, a mid-80s cutter and a high-70s curveball.
Otto Espinoza followed with a sharp inning of his own. The Cal transfer opened with three straight swings and misses on a slider in the 84-86 MPH range, then paired that pitch with a 92-94 fastball that climbed to 95.
He struck out one on the heater, produced six whiffs in 16 pitches and retired all four batters he faced. Espinoza’s over-the-top release and high release point stood out, and while he also throws a splitter, it didn’t show up in the notes from his inning.
Sebastian Lippman worked two innings and settled in after some early command issues. His fastball lived at 95-97 and never dipped below 95, and he picked up his lone strikeout with back-to-back whiffs on a slider in the 85-87 range. He also showed a curveball in the high-70s.
Payton Manca covered two frames and got four outs while allowing six batters to come to the plate. He struck out one on a fastball sitting 91-92.
Both of his breaking balls looked firmer and sharper than they did a year ago, with the slider reaching 84 and the curveball sitting in the 77-79 range. He also mixed in one changeup at 83.
Jackson McKenzie, a left-hander listed as a two-way player, continued working with the pitching group for the second straight day. He threw one inning, sat 90-93 with his fastball, and paired it with an 83-85 changeup and a breaking ball at 77-80.
Freshman Spencer Krasner also showed a three-pitch mix. His fastball was in the upper-80s, his slider sat 74-75, and his changeup came in around the low-80s. He struck out one with the slider.
At the plate, Marvin Montenegro was the loudest bat in the park. In his second at-bat, he turned on a well-located 95 MPH fastball and launched it off the back wall of the bullpen for his first homer, a 98 MPH, 373-foot shot.
He came right back in his next trip and crushed a first-pitch fastball into the parking lot beyond the left field wall. That one came off at 107 MPH and traveled 413 feet.
Will Bavaro kept his hot stretch going with a 3-1 fastball he hammered over the visitor’s bullpen. The ball left the bat at 106 MPH and carried an estimated 392 feet. It was another hard contact day for Bavaro after he also posted a 106 MPH exit velocity the day before.
Cal Fisher joined the home run parade by ambushing a hanging changeup and sending it halfway up the video board for a solo homer. The ball left his bat at 102 MPH and traveled 373 feet.
His biggest play of the day, though, came on defense. With the infield in and a runner on third, Fisher made a perfectly timed dive on a hard-hit grounder to keep a run from scoring.
Brody DeLamielleure added a double when he flattened his swing path on a 96 MPH fastball at the top of the zone and ripped it off the top of the right-field fence.
AJ Nessler continued to string together quality at-bats. With two runners in scoring position, he drove a single up the middle to bring both runs home.
The pitch was 95 MPH and his hit came off the bat at 102. He also drew a walk in his final plate appearance.
Over the last two days, the pitching staff has gotten him out just once in six plate appearances.
Other hard-hit balls included a Nick Barron groundout at 103 MPH and a Genson Veras groundout at 110 MPH. Veras also stood out in pre-practice BP off the pitching machine, where the 6-foot-6 outfielder was regularly topping 106 MPH exit velocities and uncorked a 441-foot laser to center field.
In Other News...
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Kanells bigger point was about what comes next if the results do not match the investment. Florida States spending should, in his view, make the Seminoles competitive in league play, and if that level of support still does not produce the needed return, the conversation around the program gets much sharper. For Norvell, that keeps the spotlight on more than just wins and losses, because the expectation in Tallahassee is tied to how much the school is putting into the roster and staff around him. [Read more 🡒]
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Virginia arrives as a far more established road challenge than a casual glance at the schedule might suggest. Under Tony Elliott in his fifth year, the Cavaliers have shown steady improvement, and last seasons 11-win finish gave this matchup a different kind of edge. Florida State is getting a look at a team that can lean on an experienced offensive line, protect the football with efficiency, and keep drives moving with a quarterback who can beat defenses both through the air and on the ground.
Beau Pribulas dual-threat ability gives Virginia a layer of flexibility that has become hard to ignore, while the defense has matched that progress by holding opponents to just 14 points per game. Trey Kelleher of Streaking the Lawn frames the Cavaliers as a group with real strengths and a few areas where change could still come, which is exactly why this trip matters for Florida State. It is the kind of road test that can tell you plenty about where a team stands before the season gets much deeper. [Read more 🡒]