I bet you thought we were done with midweek games, didn’t you? The Gators get one last shot at a Tuesday night W against FSU tonight.
Florida baseball’s final series of the regular season against South Carolina kicks off over the weekend, but there’s one more midweek game to play before the Gators can begin to focus on the Gamecocks. Florida State travels to Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday for a rescheduled game against UF that was originally supposed to take place on March 15.
The Gators took game one of the series at a neutral site in Jacksonville by a score of 6-3, and FSU took game two on April 12 in Tallahassee, 5-0. The rubber match comes at a time when Florida has found its groove again, but that could disappear quickly with the wrong guy on the mound. [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag]’s four-run first halted all momentum gained going into the last game between these two.
It should be a big day for the bullpen regardless of who starts. At least, that’s how midweek games have gone all year for the Gators, so there’s little reason to expect a change now.
[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] and [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] continue to be a force at the top of the order, but [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] is struggling, especially against the Southeastern Conference. He’s hitless through seven at-bats against the ‘Noles this year, but he has managed to draw a pair of walks and scored once.
If UF wants to make a deep run in the postseason, they’ll need Fabian’s bat to do more than just hit for power. This could be the breakout game to do it as it’s likely his last opportunity to get the best of FSU.
Some of these games are years away, but the Tigers have some exciting non-conference matchups on the slate in the future.
Non-conference contests provide us with some of the more interesting games in college football.
It’s always fun to see teams that rarely see each other get a chance to face-off. Since these games take place early in the year, they don’t always have the weight of a later season contest, but they still give teams a chance to make a statement on a national stage, while also being a chance for new fanbases to come together.
LSU has a big non-conference game to open 2022 as the Tigers are slated to face Florida State in New Orleans. They also face the Seminoles to open the season in 2023 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
We’ll be looking even further ahead, where the team has some neutral site games but also a few intriguing home-and-home series.
With the SEC set to undergo massive change when Texas and Oklahoma join, schedules are always subject to change. LSU has the Sooners on the schedule in 2027 and 2028. By then, OU will have taken its place in the SEC, so the status of those games remains unknown.
They could still be played, they just likely wouldn’t be official SEC games. It’s been done before with North Carolina and Wake Forrest playing what was technically an out-of-conference game that didn’t count against the conference record.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what LSU has on tap in the coming years.
Brandon Hall continues his journey to land his first 2023 or 2024 commit and offers four-star safety Jordan Pride from Florida.
Brandon Hall is still looking for his first commit in the 2023 or 2024 classes as the safeties coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. He’s been active on the recruiting trail going after anyone he sees as a fit for the Sooners’ defense. Even if they are committed elsewhere.
Enter four-star defensive back Jordan Pride, a member of the 2024 recruiting class who is currently committed to Florida State. Late last week, the Sooners made an offer to the multi-sport athlete out of Florida.
Pride is a two-way player for his high school and earned all-state recognition as a wide receiver. However, his true calling is as a defensive back where he was credited with 28 tackles and 2 interceptions this past season. Pride becomes Hall’s latest target as he expands Oklahoma’s safety offers list to 15 in total. The Sooners seem to be casting a wide net in terms of safety prospects under Brent Venables and hopefully, sooner than later it will pay off.
Jordan Pride stands at 6-foot-2 and is just under 200 pounds but his athleticism and ability to cover like a corner make him an intriguing prospect for Hall as projects better as a safety at the college level because of his long speed.
Though Pride is committed to Florida State, it remains to be seen how significant or solid that commitment is as he’s been offered by the Sooners, Miami Hurricanes, and reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs in recent months too. His offer list may not amaze you but it’s clear to see his recruitment is about to switch into another gear with the caliber of programs giving him attention.
Penn State has a scheduling vacancy to fill in 2025 and any of these 13 options would be great to see fill it
Penn State is set to meet Syracuse on the playing field for a home-and-home series beginning in 2027. With the addition of Syracuse to the future schedule, Penn State’s non-conference schedule is now completely booked through the 2027 season, with one notable exception. Penn State has one remaining scheduling vacancy to fill in 2025. And with Penn State making an effort to line up at least one game against a power conference opponent in each schedule, there could be some fun possibilities to explore to fill that one single non-conference vacancy in 2025.
As seen in the 2026 schedule, Penn State doesn’t necessarily have to fill its schedule with a power conference opponent. Although the Big Ten made an effort to make that a scheduling priority in the last few years, there is no strict policy prohibiting a Big Ten school from not scheduling a power conference opponent. But, ideally, that would be the case for Penn State as it looks to fill its 2025 schedule.
Penn State is set to host Nevada in the season opener on Aug. 30, 2025. Its home game against Villanova is scheduled for two weeks later on Sept. 13, 2025. One would be safe to assume Penn State’s schedule vacancy will fall in between those games on Sept. 6, 2025. But there is also the chance that week could be used for a Big Ten conference matchup. The Big Ten has taken steps to adding more conference inventory earlier in the year, which Penn State has been a part of. The 2022 season opener will be the third consecutive season Penn State will open the schedule with a conference game.
But, if that week is not used for a Big Ten game, here is every Power 5 program with an overlapping schedule vacancy for Week 2 in the 2025 season as of right now.
ACC
Florida State – The Seminoles would be fun to see, but they open the season with Alabama and end the year against Florida. Adding a game against Penn State a week after facing Alabama is not to be expected.
Georgia Tech – The Yellow-Jackets already have two games against Power 5 programs lined up with a road trip to Colorado in Week 1 and their rivalry game against Georgia.
Miami – OK, now we’re talking. But the Hurricanes are already getting Florida in September and have a date to be locked in against Notre Dame. So don’t count on a Penn State-Miami matchup in this spot either.
Virginia – Virginia would make good sense in this spot, especially since the Cavaliers never made the return trip to Happy Valley on a previous home-and-home arrangement (Virginia scheduled a game against Oregon instead of making a trip to Penn State in 2013 after Penn State visited Charlottesville in 2012. Virginia only has one non-conference matchup scheduled in 2025, against Coastal Carolina in Week 1.
NEXT: Big 12 and PAC12 teams with schedule vacancies
Fresh off their massive spring game success, the Oklahoma Sooners received a prediction for a speedy 2024 4-star WR out of Alabama.
It’s been said multiple times already but it bears repeating once more: Oklahoma’s spring game was a raging success. The on-field product gave a glimpse at what we to expect from the 2022 version of the Oklahoma Sooners.
In the midst of that, the Sooners hosted a plethora of recruits from all pockets of the country. Recruits across the next three recruiting cycles were in attendance as Sooners of the past littered the sidelines, adding to an already amazing atmosphere.
One of the visitors from this week may have liked Oklahoma quite a bit, so much so that the Sooners landed a Crystal Ball prediction from OUInsider’s Parker Thune.
While he isn’t the biggest receiver, Craver’s calling card is undoubtedly his speed. Thune’s prediction comes with a 7/10 confidence level, which is a pretty for a recruit that has only had his offer for less than two months.
After many months of speculation that the Oklahoma Sooners were the favorites to land him, running back Tre Wisner picks Texas.
Oklahoma and Texas both had busy Saturday afternoons as the rival programs put on their spring games. While a lot of focus was on what happened on the field, there were some fireworks after the game as Texas landed a commitment from one of the Sooners’ priority targets, running back Tre Wisner.
To say Wisner’s commitment is a shock to accurate. For months, it seemed as if the Sooners were comfortably in the driver seat with even Texas recruiting insiders, like On3’s Hudson Standish, predicting Wisner would land with the Sooners.
Wisner’s top 8 schools, released in March, included Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida State, and Arkansas among others. However, after multiple unofficial visits to Norman and many quotables that illustrated how comfortable he felt with Oklahoma running back coach DeMarco Murray, many in the industry considered Wisner’s recruitment to heavily leaning Oklahoma. A commitment appeared only a formality at that point.
Of the names listed above only Edwards has a crystal ball in favor of Oklahoma.
With such. long way to go between now and signing day, it’s hard to imagine this recruitment is over but as it looks right now this round of Red River recruiting battles goes to the Texas Longhorns.
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Clemson came out hot at the plate early in the first with back-to-back homers, but thanks to James Tibbs’ solo home run for the lead in the seventh, the Seminoles were able to battle back for the 4-3 win to even out the series and force the Sunday …
Clemson came out hot at the plate early in the first with back-to-back homers, but thanks to James Tibbs’ solo home run for the lead in the seventh, the Seminoles were able to battle back for the 4-3 win to even out the series and force the Sunday rubber match.
Nick Hoffmann tallies the loss for the Tigers, dropping to 3-5 on the season. Righthander Conner Whittaker earned the win for the Seminoles.
Sophomore Max Wagner led Clemson offensively on Saturday with two runs, two hits, two RBIs, and two solo home runs.
Clemson opened the game up early with a huge first inning. With two outs, Blake Wright and Max Wagner hit back-to-back solo bombs to left and right field respectively, both on the first pitch from lefty Bryce Hubbart to give the Tigers the 2-0 lead through one.
Following three scoreless innings, Florida State came up with their answer in the top of the fifth. With runners on second and third, Jordan Carrion hit an RBI single to score Isaiah Perry. The Seminoles tacked on another two runs later in the inning thanks to a two-RBI single to first base that brought in Carrion and Tyler Martin. With three runs off four hits for Florida State, Clemson trailed 3-2.
Wagner came up clutch yet again for the Tigers in the sixth, launching his seventeenth home run of the year, his second of the game, to left field to tie the game 3-3.
In his first at-bat of the game in the seventh, outfielder James Tibbs hit a solo homer to right field, giving the Seminoles the lead and eventual win with a final score of 4-3.
With the loss, Clemson drops to 25-14 overall and 5-11 in ACC play.
The Tigers look to secure the series in their third and final game against Florida State on Sunday, April 24, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ACCNX.
One step forward, two steps back. The Gators lose an ugly one to FSU after taking two of three from Arkansas.
Florida had a shot to take the season series from Florida State on Tuesday night, but the Seminoles rode a five-run first inning to a 5-0 victory in Tallahassee.
[autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] got the start for Florida but struggled to get just one out. After giving up back-to-back homers and allowing another man to hit safely, Pogue’s night was over after just 23 pitches. [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] brought in [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] as a long reliever, but it took a while for him to settle in. Two more singles brought in another run to make it 4-0 and the final one came in as catcher [autotag]Mac Guscette[/autotag] threw out a runner attempting to steal second. At that point, trading outs for runs seemed necessary.
Normally, a five-run first means a high-scoring affair, but both clubs stayed quiet for the rest of the night. That’s good news for the Gators’ struggling bullpen and bad news for a veteran offense that should’ve been able to fight back. Instead, Florida managed just two hits all night and struck out 14 times.
Nesbitt worked through the third and then let [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] come in to eat 2 2/3 innings. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] pitched through the seventh, and [autotag]Karl Hartman[/autotag] impressed with a two-strikeout eighth. Ficarotta has been solid all year for the Gators, but Abner and Hartman could stand to become a bit more consistent. An outing like this against a club like FSU should earn them some favor in Sully’s book.
Vanderbilt is up next over the weekend as Florida returns to a more typical Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule over the next few weeks. The Commodores are no joke but have a similar record to Florida and recently dropped out of the top 25. It’ll be a test run of sorts for the squad before hosting Tennessee the following week.
Johnson floated around before finding a home, but that hasn’t stopped the hype train. Does the film match and does he match Dallas’ plans? Tyler Browning (@DiabeticTyler) dives into the tape.
Florida State edge rusher Jermaine Johnson is well traveled, but found his groove when he landed in Tallahassee. He first came to fame for his appearance on the Netflix TV series Last Chance U. He played at Independence Community College and finished his time there rated very highly; a 247Sports.com four-star JUCO prospect.
He was a PrepStar Magazine five-star prospect, #1 overall nationally, #1 JUCO DE and ranked as the #2 overall Junior College prospect nationally. In his time at Independence, he totaled 96 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries in just 20 games.
Following his time there he transferred to Georgia and played two seasons before transferring to Florida State. He topped off his career with an invite to the Senior Bowl, where he had a very impressive week that began a meteoric rise up the boards of draftniks. What does the film say about his play?
It seems like the extended time during the Irish baseball team’s four-game losing streak lit an fire for the team. They had ended the streak with a mid-week win over Northern Illinois, but those games are typically set for quality teams like the Irish to get a win and work on things.
Well, that work seemed to have paid off this weekend, going into Link Jarrett’s alma mater and sweeping Florida State. A Friday night 2-0 extra inning win was followed up by another nail-bitter on Saturday, with the Irish winning 5-4.
With the series already in hand the visitors could have mailed in the finale and still gone home with a very impressive set against the Seminoles. They wanted more however, and finished off the series sweep with a get-away-day 9-7 win.
FINAL: #13 Notre Dame 9, #5 Florida State 7
The Irish finish off the series sweep of the Seminoles!
Both team traded three-run first innings, but the Irish took the lead in the top of the third with two more runs and did enough to scratch out the win. Aidan Tyrell was the biggest story of the weekend for the Irish, not starting like he has been all season, but being a massive weapon off out of the bullpen. The lefty pitched a scoreless inning Friday night, got the day off on Saturday and then fired four and two-thirds of one-run pitching after stater Austin Temple struggled out of the gate.
END 5 | Scoreless frame in the bottom of the fifth for @aidan_tyrell!
Offensively, it was Carter Putz and Ryan Cole each blasting a home-run, with Cole driving in three. Putz and Brooks Coetzee also drove in two runs themselves.
The hit that put the Irish up for good!@CarterPutz launched his 2nd home run of the weekend in the 9-7 win over #5 Florida State to sweep the series!#GoIrishpic.twitter.com/vYcyRwL83W
The sweep put the Irish back over .500 in ACC play, 5-4, and extended their overall record to 16-5 on the season. They will most likely rise in the polls when they are updated early this week.
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