He will have one less day of rest, and he threw a season-high 121 pitches last Saturday, but Florida State ace Jamie Arnold is expected to be on the mound when the No. 8 Seminoles take on No. 1 Tennessee on the opening night of the College World Series on Friday.
FSU coach Link Jarrett hasn’t printed that decision in ink just yet, but that was definitely the plan as the Seminoles headed to the airport for Omaha early Wednesday afternoon.
“Jamie should be in good shape to open,” Jarrett said. “He had a real good bullpen today. So we’ll probably go in that direction.”
Arnold is 11-3 on the season and boasts a 2.77 ERA. He will face a Tennessee offense that is among the best in the country, if not the best. The Volunteers lead the nation in both home runs and runs scored.
While silencing those bats will be a tall task for any pitcher, Jarrett is well aware of how important it is to win the opening game or two in Omaha and avoid falling into the losers’ bracket.
So if the sophomore left-hander is available, he needs to be on the mound.
“Clearly, getting off to a good start is huge,” Jarrett said. “And when he’s on his game, he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever seen. So we just need him on it.”
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That means Florida State likely will go with junior left-hander Carson Dorsey in a Game 2 situation. And because the games are spaced out during the World Series, Jarrett said there’s a chance Arnold could come back sooner than some might expect.
If a team wins on Friday and Sunday, for example, their next game wouldn’t be until the following Wednesday.
“When can the starter that throws Friday, when can Jamie recycle and be used again?” Jarrett said. “Then you look at Dorsey, and it’s the same thing.”
Another positive to the CWS schedule is that teams in the opening rounds shouldn’t have to play on consecutive days. That means the Seminoles might have top relievers Conner Whittaker, Brennen Oxford and others available in back-to-back games, which is much easier to manage than during a regular-season weekend series.
“The ability of the relief pitchers to bounce back is a huge difference in how this tournament is structured,” Jarrett said. “And it’s a big deal. So guys that throw a little bit on Friday … man, you’re off Saturday. So they can rest and recover.”
Florida State and Tennessee will square off Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
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