Midseason awards and accolades are being announced for the 2025 college baseball season. This includes the Golden Spikes Award watch list for the award is given to the best player in college baseball each season.
The Florida State Seminoles three weekend starting pitchers all were named tothis midseason Golden Spikes watch list, and for good reason.
Behind Jamie Arnold, Joey Volini, and Wes Mendes, the Seminoles have a 3.92 team ERA, which is in the top 25 in all of college baseball. With that team ERA, they rank second in the Atlantic Coast Conference, behind only the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Arnold was one of the best pitchers in the country heading into the season. He was in the top five on a lot of MLB draft boards. Although he has not been quite as dominant as he was in 2024, he has still been excellent.
In six starts, he has a 3-1 record with a 3.07 ERA. He has struck out 38 batters in 29 1/3 innings while allowing an opposing batting average of .186. He had four eight-strikeout appearances to begin the 2025 season.
Volini has surprisingly been one of the best pitchers in the country. He is fourth in the nation in ERA with 1.25 in 43 1/3 innings of work.
He is also seventh in the country in strikeouts with 63. Much like Arnold, the South Florida transfer has not given up a lot of hits with an allowed opposing batting average of .176.
Volini’s ERA is the best of any pitcher in the ACC.
Mendes has a 4-0 record in seven starts this season. He ranks in the top ten in the ACC in ERA at 2.83. He has struck out 52 hitters in 35 innings of work. He has also refused to give up the long ball this season with just one home run allowed this year out of the 145 batters he has faced.
Mendes has an allowed opposing batting average of .205 this season.
Florida State has developed one of the best weekend rotations in the country. While all of this is happening, Cam Leiter has been out rehabbing an injury. He was the Seminoles’ Friday night starter at the start of the 2024 season.
Up Next – Florida State has a key weekend series in ACC play this weekend against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This three-game series begins on Friday, April 4. The first pitch for that matchup at Dick Howser Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT.
Photo: Florida State pitcher Jamie Arnold (16) warms up before an NCAA college regional baseball game against Stetson on Friday, May 31, 2024 in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
