Florida State Seminoles baseball


The Florida State Seminoles baseball team represents Florida State University in the sport of college baseball. Florida State competes in NCAA Division I, and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Seminoles are the second most successful NCAA Division I college baseball program in percentage of games won, with an all-time win percentage of, second behind the Texas Longhorns. The Seminoles rank fifth in all-time wins and second in post-season wins. The Seminoles have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 61 times, advancing to the College World Series 24 times, and have appeared in the CWS Championship Game or Championship Series on three occasions, finishing as runner-up. Florida State has won 11 regular-season conference championships and 20 conference tournament championships, including nine regular-season ACC championships and eight ACC tournament championships as well as eight division titles.
Florida State has had over 100 All-Americans and more than 300 players drafted into the MLB. Four Seminoles have won the Golden Spikes Award. Notable alumni include J.D. Drew, Terry Kennedy, Buster Posey, Dick Howser, and Mike Martin; the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, presented annually to the top catcher in college baseball, is named for Florida State hall of famer, Posey, the Dick Howser Trophy, which has been awarded to a Florida State player on three occasions, is named after the team's former head coach, and Martin, a former player and head coach, is the winningest coach in the history of college baseball and has been elected into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Seminoles play their home games on campus at Mike Martin Field at [Dick Howser Stadium] on the university's Tallahassee, Florida, campus and are coached by alumnus Link Jarrett.

Program history

Seminole baseball is one of the most successful collegiate baseball programs in the United States having been to 24 College World Series in 61 Tournament appearances, and having appeared in the national championship final on three occasions.
Since 1990, FSU has had more 50 win seasons, hosted more NCAA Tournaments, and finished in the top 10 more than any team in the nation. Since 2000, FSU has been one of the best programs in college baseball with more victories and a higher winning percentage in the regular season than any other school. FSU made the postseason 44 years in a row, tied for the longest streak in the history of college baseball. FSU also has two 60 win seasons and twenty-four 50 win seasons. FSU has hosted more Super Regional Tournaments than any team in the nation. In 2012, FSU passed Texas for the most all-time wins in regionals and super regionals. In 2014, FSU set the record for the most National Seed selections of all-time. In 2017, FSU defeated Cal-State Fullerton, in the 1,000th College World Series game. From 1948-2022, FSU completed seventy-five consecutive winning seasons, the longest streak in the sport’s history, and was the only college baseball team to have never had a losing record until the 2023 season.

Early history (1948–1978)

The first coach of the Florida State Seminoles was Charlie Armstrong, who spent four years with the program and compiled a record of 46–29.
Ralph Matherly became the second coach of the Seminoles. Matherly served as head coach for three years and compiled a record of 43–22–1.
Danny Litwhiler was named as the third coach at Florida State. Litwhiler spent nine years coaching the Seminoles and compiled a record of 189–83. He is the second longest tenured coach in the history of the Florida State program.
The fourth coach of Florida State was Fred Hatfield. Hatfield was coach of the Seminoles for five years, and he compiled a record of 157–57–1.
Jack Stallings spent six years as head coach at Florida State. Stallings compiled a record of 248–107–3, making him the second winningest coach at the school.
As the sixth coach of the Seminoles, Woody Woodward led Florida State to an overall record 174–57 in his four years spent as head coach.

Dick Howser era (1979)

returned to his alma mater to serve as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles for one year and guided the team to a 43–17–1 record. Howser then returned to Major League Baseball as manager of the New York Yankees, leading them to the 1980 ALCS.

Mike Martin, Sr. era (1980–2019)

was the coach of the Seminoles for 40 years after serving as an assistant for five years. He is the winningest coach in school history and his teams never won less than 40 games a season and reached the postseason in every year of his tenure, advancing to the world series on 17 occasions; in 2017, Martin won his 1900th game, becoming just the second coach in college baseball history to reach that milestone, in 2018, he become the winningest coach in college baseball, and in his final season, he became the first coach in history to win 2,000 games. During his tenure, he had 85 players drafted in the first ten rounds of the MLB draft including 19 first round picks.

Mike Martin, Jr. era (2020–2022)

On June 21, 2019, Martin's son, Mike, Jr., a former player and assistant, was named head coach of the Seminoles. He guided Florida State to two appearances in the NCAA tournament during his tenure although the Seminoles were eliminated in the regionals on both occasions. On June 10, 2022, Martin was let go following three seasons, ending forty-three years of a Martin at the helm of the program.

Link Jarrett era (2023–present)

On June 24, 2022, Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett, a former player under Martin Sr., was named head coach of the Seminoles. In his first season, the Seminoles suffered their first losing season in program history and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977. In his second year, he led the Seminoles to their second best start to a season in school history and a return to the tournament, with the Seminoles setting records in a super regional game for runs scored and margin of victory and advancing to their first world series appearance in five years, becoming the second Florida State head coach to both play and coach for the team in the college world series. Prior to the start of the his fourth season, Jarrett signed a new contract with the school, ensuring his continuance as head coach of the program.

Venue

Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium

Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium is the home of the Seminoles and is located in Tallahassee, Florida, on the campus of Florida State University. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Florida State Seminoles baseball team.
Image:Dickhowserplaza.JPG|thumb|200px|right|The stadium is named after former player and head coach Dick Howser.
It opened in 1983 and was renovated in 2004, upgrading the stadium to a 6,700 capacity level to make it one of the top collegiate baseball facilities in the United States. FSU's record crowd of 6,789 was set on April 19, 2008 with a defeat of the then #1 Miami Hurricanes by a score of 9–5.

Head coaches

  • Records are through the 2024 season
TenureCoachYearsRecordPct.
1948–1951Charlie Armstrong446–29
1952–1954Ralph Matherly343–22–1
1955–1963Danny Litwhiler9190–83–1
1964–1968Fred Hatfield5159–57–1
1969–1974Jack Stallings6249–106–2
1975–1978Woody Woodward4170–57
1979Dick Howser143–17–1
1980–2019Mike Martin402,029–736–4^
2020–2022Mike Martin, Jr.377–54
2023–presentLink Jarrett3114–63
Totals9 coaches78 seasons3,120–1,226–10

  • ^4 wins were vacated due to the academic scandal in 2007.

Current coaching staff

  • Head coach: Link Jarrett
  • Assistant coach: Brad Vanderglas
  • Pitching coach: Micah Posey
  • Hitting coach/Recruiting coordinator: Ty Megahee
  • Director of operations: Drew Linder

    Traditions

Animals of Section B

Before the home half of the 5th inning, a group of fans known as The Animals of Section B lead the Seminoles crowd in singing the Canadian national anthem, O Canada. This tradition is claimed to have started on February 13, 1988, during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, when FSU was playing Grambling State University. During the bottom of the 5th inning, with the score tied 2–2, a member of The Animals began humming the Canadian anthem. As the Seminoles began to rally for more and more runs, more Animals joined in the humming and the team scored eight runs that inning. With baseball being a sport with a long history of superstition, The Animals have maintained the tradition ever since.

Sunday Golds

A tradition that began during the Mike Martin era, the Seminoles wear their gold uniforms for every game that they play on a Sunday.

Records and results

Year-by-year results

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, C = Conference
  • ^4 total wins vacated due to the academic scandal

  • ^3 ACC wins vacated due to the academic scandal

    Polls

Florida State been ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Division I Final Poll 56 times.
Top-10 finishes are colored ██
YearRecordFinal Ranking
196121–717
196223–144
196327–136
196532–11–15
196639–139
196730–1413
196835–612
196939–12–110
197049–9–12
197141–1623
197245–2319
197338–2124
197549–102
197640–1614
198051–127

YearRecordFinal Ranking
198156–2316
198256–17–122
198355–18–115
198559–2320
198661–132
198755–186
198850–18–115
198954–183
199057–1510
199157–147
199249–215
199346–1922
199453–226
199553–165
199652–176

YearRecordFinal Ranking
199750–179
199853–208
199957–142
200053–193
200147–199
200260–149
200354–13–19
200445–2314
200553–2015
200644–2124
200745–1310
200854–147
200945–189
201048–206
201146–196

YearRecordFinal Ranking
201250–174
201347–1713
201443–1723
201544–2112
201641–2214
201746–236
201843–1921
201942–236
202012–513
202449–173
202542–1610

All-time record vs. ACC teams

OpponentWonLostTiePercentageStreakFirst Meeting
Boston College44^120Won 42006
California520Won 11992
Clemson85781Won 11958
Duke83^300Won 11954
Georgia Tech81510Won 11959
Louisville38140Lost 21977
Miami1641374Won 11951
North Carolina75370Lost 11956
North Carolina State76400Won 11962
Notre Dame27170Won 21956
Pittsburgh2980Won 11983
Stanford1190Won 21992
Virginia62340Won 21972
Virginia Tech51^180Won 41967
Wake Forest98400Lost 21962
Totals9225325

  • ^3 ACC wins are vacated from 2007 due to the academic scandal

    Rivalries

OpponentWonLostTiePercentageStreakFirst Meeting
Florida1351291Lost 11956
Jacksonville140430Won 71960
Miami1641374Won 11951
Totals4393095

Florida State in the NCAA Tournament

Florida State has appeared in the NCAA tournament a total of 61 times, the second most appearances of any team in history. The Seminoles had 44 straight appearances from 1978 to 2022, tied for the longest streak in tournament history. The Seminoles have hosted regionals a nation-leading total of 37 times, including eight consecutive times from 2011–2018, have been selected as a top-eight national seed a total of 12 times, the most of any school, and have advanced to a super-regional a nation-leading total of 19 times, including six straight appearances from 2008–2013.
National championsRunner-upCollege World SeriesSuper Regionals

YearWLPercent
1956 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament|1956]12
195733
195812
195922
196112
196263
196343
196553
196632
196712
196832
197072
197212
197532
197612
197802
197902
198032
198122
198212
198312
198402
198522
198672
198753
198822
198962
199042
199142
199263
199322
199452
199552
199652
199742
199842
199992
200084
200142
200242
200343
200433
200532
200622
200712
200864
200932
201063
201142
201272
201332
201402
201532
201642
201774
201802
201962
202112
202212
202472
202542
Total:210136

College World Series

Florida State has made twenty-four appearances in the College World Series, compiling a 32–48 record and advancing to the title game on three occasions.
YearPlace
19578th
19624th
19635th
19656th
19702nd
19757th
19808th
19862nd
19875th
19893rd
19918th
19926th
19946th
19956th
19965th
19988th
19992nd
20003rd
20087th
20105th
20123rd
20176th
20195th
20244th
2432–48

Championships

National Championship appearances

Florida State has appeared in the College World Series National Championship game three times in 1970, 1986 and 1999.

Divisional Championships

Conference Regular Season Championships

Conference Tournament championships

Awards

Dick Howser Trophy

Golden Spikes Award

National Awards

Drafted players

Hall of Fame inductees

Six FSU players and two coaches have been inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Retired jerseys

Notable former players