ACC Baseball News & Notes: Florida State is Your Leader

Read Time:4 Minute, 10 Second

The halfway point of the ACC season is right around the corner. By the weekend’s conclusion, we should reach that point. The Florida State Seminoles sit atop the leaderboard by playing .778 baseball (7-2). Two games behind them are the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-4) and the Clemson Tigers (6-3). Both teams are playing .667 baseball. As play gets underway this weekend, 11 of the 16 teams in the league are playing .500 baseball or better. So things are tight and should remain that way for the rest of the season. Here is a look at the league.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will be looking for a new head coach once the season comes to an end. Their current coach, Danny Hall, has decided to step down after this season. He ranks 10th all-time in Division I history with 1,433 wins. The Yellow Jackets are playing good baseball right now. On offense, they lead the country in doubles with 84 and doubles per game at 3.00. On the mound, Mason Patel is tied for the lead in the nation in wins with 7. He is second in WHIP at 0.68, and his earned run average of 1.34 is 8th in the nation.

The rankings continued to demonstrate just how good this league is. In the RPI rankings that came out earlier this week, 13 of the 16 schools were ranked. In fact, five of these schools are ranked in the Top 20. Those teams are Clemson at #5, Florida State at #11, Notre Dame, despite being 14-11 overall and 2-10 in the league, sits at #13, North Carolina at #16, and Georgia Tech at #19.

The Virginia Tech Hokies are 20-8 overall and 7-5 in the league and they have won four in a row. They started play this week with the longest winning streak at five games. They also have the conference’s longest winning streak at four games. Over the last two league weekends, VT has won back to back league series against #18 Louisville and #16 Wake Forest.

The Virginia Cavaliers are a .500 team in the league at 6-6, and they are 15-11 overall. Last weekend, they swept the Stanford Cardinals. In doing so, they gave their head coach, Brian O’Connor, his 900th career win on Sunday. The winning streak of three is the second longest in the league behind VT’s four in a row.

There are plenty of reasons for Florida State’s success this spring. A 23-4 overall record, as well as 7-2 in conference play, does not hurt. They are in the top 10 in virtually all offensive categories. They are getting a terrific season from Alex Lodise, who is 4th in the nation in batting with a .466 average. He is first in hits with 54 and total bases at 101. It also doesn’t hurt that he is a pretty good pitcher as well, leading the country in hits allowed per nine innings at 2.00. However, he is getting help. His mound mate, Joey Volini, is second in the country in complete games with two, 4th in ERA at 1.25, 7th in strikeouts with 63, tied for first in wins with 7, and is 6th in WHIP at 0.81.

Another player that is having a fine year with the bat is Duke’s Ben Miller. He leads the ACC with 13 HR. He needs three more to move into a tie for 10th all-time in program history, and he is 10 away from breaking the program’s all-time record. The home run total has him 3rd in the country. On the pitching side of things, Reid Easterly is 3rd in pitching appearances with 16.

The Seminoles took both weekly awards this week from the ACC. The Player of the Week is Alex Lodise. He hit .500 (10-for-20), with 8 RBI, 4 HR, and he slugged .1300. He hit for the cycle on March 25 vs Florida. His final hit in that cycle was a walk-off grand slam home run. It was his first cycle and the first for the program since 2019. His league numbers are impressive. He leads the league with a .466 BA, .871 slugging percentage, 54 hits, and 101 total bases. He ranks second in doubles with 14 and HRs with 12.

The Pitcher of the Week is Florida State’s Joey Volini. He threw his second complete seven-inning game vs Notre Dame on the road on March 30. He struck out a career-high seven hitters, allowed two runs on four hits, and two walks. He is 7-0, and is the first FSU pitcher to be at this mark since Michael Hyde was 6-0 in 2008. The wins lead the league, as does his ERA of 1.25, 43.1 IP, and he is second in strikeouts with 63.

Next week, we will have more from the ACC.