FSU, FAMU baseball could face off for 1st time in decades with strong finishes to season

Seventh-ranked Florida State and neighbor Florida A&M last faced each other in baseball 22 years ago.

That could change later this month.

As the regular season winds down, the Seminoles (34-10) are projected to host an NCAA Regional as a top-8 national seed by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com.

And the Rattlers (23-21) are projected as the No. 4 seed in FSU’s four-team regional by the same publications as the SWAC tournament champion.

FSU and FAMU would play in a first-round game at Howser Stadium in that scenario.

It would also be a reunion for head coaches Link Jarrett at FSU and Jamey Shouppe at FAMU.

The pair played at FSU, and Shoppe was the program’s longtime pitching coach and recruiting coordinator under legendary Mike Martin.

FSU, FAMU baseball look to finish regular season on strong notes

Of course, both teams have to finish well in May for any of this to potentially happen.

FSU was projected entering this weekend to host a regional as a No. 6 seed by Baseball America as well as a No. 7 seed by D1Baseball.com.

“We're not finished,” Jarrett said last Thursday.

“You have to finish. And to be one of those seeds is important. It gives you a chance to obviously be at home for a regional and hopefully you're at home for a Super Regional. Your goal is getting to Omaha and the best way to get to Omaha would be to play those postseason series here.”

FSU is scheduled to close its ACC series against visiting North Carolina State at 1 p.m. Sunday; FAMU is at home against state rival Bethune-Cookman at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Seminoles will also play Pittsburgh, a non-conference game at Stetson, and Georgia Tech to wrap up the regular season. The ACC Tournament is May 21-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

FAMU faces North Florida in a non-conference game and ends its regular season against Alabama State and Mississippi Valley State. The SWAC tournament is May 22-26 in Atlanta and hosted by Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium.

FAMU must win the tournament to earn am automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

The field of 64 teams that will compete for the 2024 NCAA college baseball championship will be announced at noon Monday, May 27th, on ESPN2. Teams will be placed in 16 different four-team regions, with teams seeded one through four to compete in a double-elimination format.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU, FAMU baseball could meet in the postseason, according to projections