Series Preview: What UVA Baseball fans need to know about #7 Florida State

As I reported on Tuesday, #7 Florida State lost star first baseman Myles Bailey after Bailey went down with a gruesome ankle injury in an 12-11 win at Duke on Saturday.

Bailey underwent surgery and is out for the season.

Bailey was putting up video game numbers – 13 homers, 33 RBIs, .363/.582/.913 slash line, 1.495 OPS in 27 games in 2026.

You hate this for FSU (22-6, 7-2 ACC), which is on the short list of top contenders for a spot in the College World Series in June.

Game 1: Thursday, April 2, 5 p.m. ET

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Watch: ACC Network

Pitching probables

• FSU: Wes Mendes (6-1, 1.33 ERA)
• UVA: Kyle Johnson (0-1, 6.00 ERA)

Game 2: Friday, April 3, 2 p.m. ET

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Watch: ACC Network Extra

Pitching probables

• FSU: Trey Beard (2-0, 3.58 ERA)
• UVA: Max Stammel (2-2, 7.14 ERA)

Game 3: Saturday, April 4, 11 a.m. ET

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Watch: ACC Network Extra

Pitching probables

• FSU: Bryson Moore (4-1, 5.12 ERA)
• UVA: John Paone (1-1, 5.02 ERA)

FSU lineup, pitching

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Bailey was the pop – he has 13 of the team’s 36 homers.

Behind him, the leading home-run hitter is junior outfielder Braydon Dowd (.294 BA/1.031 OPS, 6 HRs, 24 RBIs).

Not a lot of punch outside of those two, and the ‘Noles aren’t all that active on the basepaths (31 stolen bases in 28 games).

FSU averages 8.2 runs per game, but Bailey was worth 2.0 runs per game on his own, and you have to wonder about the impact in game-planning with him not at the top of the lineup wreaking havoc.

The strength of this team is its pitching, which is fifth in the ACC in team ERA (3.98).

Mendes, the #1 starter, has a miniscule 0.84 WHIP, and has 58 Ks in 40.2 innings, a better than 5:1 K/BB ratio, and averages nearly six innings per start.

Beard, the #2 starter, has a 1.12 WHIP and a 4:1 K/BB ratio, and had an impressive outing in a 2-0 win at Wake Forest last month, striking out 14, walking one and allowing one hit in 6.2 scoreless innings.

As lefthanders, Mendes and Beard could be tough matchups for Virginia’s lefty-dominant lineup – the top three hitters in the UVA order (Eric Becker, AJ Gracia, Sam Harris) all bat from the left side, as does five-hole hitter Harrison Didawick.

Moore, the #3 starter, is a UVA transfer – the righty was 2-1 in 14 appearances, 10 starts, 31.1 innings – across two seasons, in 2024 and 2025.

Righthander John Abraham (1-0, three saves, 0.71 ERA, 37Ks/7 BBs in 25.1 IP) anchors the bullpen.