FORMAT: The play-in game means elimination for the loser, but the winner joins the seven others in a double-elimination tournament.
TODAY'S SCHEDULE: Game 1 - No. 8 seed Wake Forest vs. No. 9 Maryland, 7:30 p.m.
AT STAKE: The tournament winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA regions, but win or lose, six league teams - red-hot Georgia Tech (winner of 17 straight), Virginia, FSU, Clemson, North Carolina and North Carolina State - seem headed to the 64-team field. Of that group, only N.C. State, which opens play against FSU on Wednesday, is not ranked in the latest Collegiate Baseball Top 25. But the Wolfpack won two of three at UNC last weekend and won twice at then No. 1 Texas on May 15.
WHAT FSU HAS TO DO: The third-seeded Seminoles are in unusual territory; they have been the top seed the past three years. Their starting pitching has been unusually suspect and thin. There are only three healthy pitchers who have started this year: senior right-hander Eddie Cannon (8-5, 3.62 ERA), senior righty Rhett James (8-2, 2.97 ERA) and sophomore righty Mark Sauls (5-4, 5.26 ERA). They need to be effective and economical with their pitch count if FSU hopes to ride them for a minimum of the five games needed to win the title. That trio has been better of late as the Seminoles have won six straight, albeit against lowly Wake Forest and Duke, and 10 of the last 13. That includes taking two of three at Clemson and at Virginia.
