The Florida State Seminoles baseball team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of college baseball. Florida State competes in NCAA Division I, and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Florida State Seminoles are the second-winningest NCAA Division I college baseball program in percentage of games won, with an all-time win percentage of .730. The Seminoles rank eighth in all-time number of total wins and third in post-season wins. The Seminoles have appeared in the NCAA Tournament fifty-four times, advancing to the College World Series twenty-one times â€" and have appeared in the CWS Championship Game or Championship Series on three occasions in 1970, 1986 and 1999. They are the most successful collegiate baseball program in the United States without a College World Series championship. Florida State has won eleven regular season conference championships and eighteen conference tournament championships.
Florida State has had ninety-two All-Americans, forty-one players inducted into the Hall of Fame, and sixty-one players that went on to play Major League Baseball. Former Seminoles who have gone on to have success include Randy Choate, J. D. Drew, Stephen Drew, Ron Fraser, Johnny Grubb, Terry Kennedy, Doug Mientkiewicz, Buster Posey, Shane Robinson, Larry Rothschild, Tony La Russa, Paul Sorrento, and Woody Woodward.
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 currently coached by Mike Martin, one of the most successful coaches in the history of college baseball.
Program history
Seminole baseball is one of the most successful collegiate baseball programs in the United States having been to 21 College World Series in 53 Tournament appearances, and having appeared in the national championship final on three occasions (falling to the University of Southern California Trojans in 1970, the University of Arizona Wildcats in 1986, and the University of Miami Hurricanes in 1999).
Under the command since 1980 of Head Coach #11 Mike Martin (FSU Alumni 1966), Florida State is the second-winningest program in the history of college baseball. 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 has made the postseason 39 years in a row. 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 postseason wins of all-time. In 2014, FSU set the record for the most National Seed selections (10) of all-time. FSU has never had a losing season in its history; there is no other team at any level of college baseball that has never had a losing season.
Charlie Armstrong era (1948â€"1951)
The first coach of the Florida State Seminoles was Charlie Armstrong, who spent four years with the program and compiled a record of 46â€"29.
Ralph Matherly era (1952â€"1954)
Ralph Matherly became the second coach of the Seminoles. Matherly served as head coach for three years and compiled a record of 43â€"22â€"1.
Danny Litwhiler era (1955â€"1963)
Danny Litwhiler was named as the third coach at Florida State. Litwhiler spent nine years coaching the Seminoles and compiled a record of 189â€"83. He is the second longest tenured coach in the history of the Florida State program.
Fred Hatfield era (1964â€"1968)
The fourth coach of Florida State was Fred Hatfield. Hatfield was coach of the Seminoles for five years, and he compiled a record of 157â€"57â€"1.
Jack Stallings era (1969â€"1974)
Jack Stallings spent six years as head coach at Florida State. Stallings compiled a record of 248â€"107â€"3, making him the second winningest coach at the school.
Woody Woodward era (1975â€"1978)
As the sixth coach of the Seminoles, Woody Woodward led Florida State to an overall record 174â€"57 in his four years spent as head coach.
Dick Howser era (1979)
Dick Howser returned to his alma mater to serve as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles for one year and guided the team to a 43â€"17â€"1 record.
Mike Martin era (1980â€"present)
The current head coach of Florida State is Mike Martin. Martin is going into his thirty-eighth year as head coach of the Seminoles. He is the winningest coach in school history and his teams have never won less than 40 games a season; in 2017, Martin won his 1900th game, becoming just the second coach in college baseball history to reach that milestone. During his tenure, he has had seventy-nine players drafted in the first ten rounds of the MLB Draft
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. It opened in 1983 and after a two-year, $12 million project was completed in 2004 to make it one of the top collegiate baseball facilities in the United States, upgrading the stadium to a 6,700 capacity level. FSU's record crowd of 6,789 was set on April 19, 2008 with a defeat of then #1 Miami Hurricanes by a score of 9â€"5.
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 2â€"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.
Head coaches
- Records are through the 2017 season
*^4 wins were vacated due to the academic scandal in 2007.
Current coaching staff
- Head coach: Mike Martin
- Associate coach: Mike Bell
- Assistant coach: Mike Martin, Jr.
- Strength and Conditioning coach: Travis Roy
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 has ended their baseball season ranked 50 times. Top-10 finishes are colored ██