Florida State Seminoles Final '07 Rank: 10 49-13

The Seminoles appeared Omaha bound throughout most of the ’07 season. They started the season with twenty-three consecutive wins, earned a top eight seed in the national tournament and were led by a record breaking Dick Howser Trophy finalist. However they were upended by the streaking Mississippi State Bulldogs in regional play and finished the season at 49-13, short of their goal of a nineteenth trip to Omaha and their first CWS title.

The Seminoles finished the year hitting .350 as a team to shatter the previous school of .337 set back in 1980 as well as the ACC record of .347 set by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2001. A big part of FSU’s offensive success was Dick Howser Trophy finalist second baseman Tony Thomas Jr. Thomas traded his aluminum for wood after the season to play in the Chicago Cubs’ organization after batting a remarkable .430 with 47 extra base hits and 31 stolen bases to lead the Seminole charge. He will be missed, but a number of big bats will return to Tallahassee in ‘08 including catcher Buster Posey, third baseman Jason Stidham and outfielder Jack Rye. Posey was one of three finalists for the Johnny Bench award, making him the first sophomore to be in the running for the award given to the nation's top collegiate catcher. He hit .382 and led the team with 65 RBI's after making the transition from shortstop to catcher after a hole opened up unexpectedly behind the plate. Stidham slugged .366 as a freshman and added twenty-six extra base hits, including six homeruns. The clutch hitting Rye returns to FSU after being drafted in the 46th round by the San Francisco Giants. His impressive ’07 numbers included a .372 batting average, 10 homeruns and he finished second on the team with 61 RBI - 31 of which came with two outs. Dennis Guinn will be looking to put an injury plagued season behind him which forced him to miss seventeen games after a breakout ’06 campaign. Guinn still hit .286 last year with 13 multi-hit games after powering a dozen homeruns and ranking nationally in RBI the previous season. Infielder Tony Delmonico, the son of FSU assistant coach Rod Delmonico, left Tennessee after his father’s contract was bought out. He hit .323 and made the SEC All-Tournament Team in ’07 and will help ease the loss of Thomas.

Ace pitcher Bryan Henry will not be returning to Tallahassee due to graduation and the draft, meaning senior Ryan Strauss will take over the Friday starter role. Strauss went 10-3 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 appearances and will have to duplicate those numbers if FSU is going to make a deeper run into the postseason. Matt Fairel pitched in 21 games last season in relief roles, but is looking to make the transition to starter after finishing with a 2.98 ERA and an over 2 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (26 to 12) in 33.2 innings his freshman season. Another possibility of a transition from bullpen to starter is junior Jimmy Mashall. Marshall closed out ’07 with a 13.1 scoreless innings pitched streak, led all Seminole relievers in ERA (1.39) and limited opposition to a .121 batting average with runner's on base. After being a spot starter, Bo O’Dell could also earn weekend starter status if he can get his ERA down (5.06). Don’t be surprised to see freshman Mike McGee compete for a starting position as well after choosing FSU over professional baseball (selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 37th Round).