Starters for both teams for the weekend series have not been announced.
FSU is 19-5 on the season, 5-1 in the ACC, 14-1 at home, 4-1 on the road, 1-3 at a neutral site and 5-3 against ranked opponents. The Seminoles are coming off a midweek loss to Florida in Jacksonville after a home series win over No. 10 NC State last weekend, their second top-15 series win to begin the ACC season. Six of Florida State’s last 13 games have been run-rule wins, including one in both of its first two conference series. This weekend’s series is part of a nine-game stretch of games held within the state of Florida and three of seven in Tallahassee.
As a team, Florida State is hitting .297 with 232 hits, 34 home runs, 53 doubles, four triples, 133 walks, 205 runs scored and 177 RBI. The pitching staff has a 3.62 ERA with 80 earned runs allowed on 144 hits with 258 strikeouts and 94 walks in 199.0 innings.
Freshman designated hitter Kelvyn Paulino Jr. leads the team with a .404 batting average and sophomore first baseman Myles Bailey has 26 hits, 12 home runs, 31 RBI, 31 walks and 31 runs scored. Sophomore infielder/outfielder Noah Sheffield and freshman outfielder John Stuetzer both have seven doubles, while junior outfielder Chase Williams and Stuetzer have six stolen bases in eight attempts. On the mound, junior lefty Wes Mendes is 5-1 with a 1.59 ERA, having struck out 46 and given up six earned runs on 19 hits in 34.0 innings. Junior right-hander John Abraham has made nine appearances, all but one out of the bullpen, and has 30 strikeouts and a 0.42 ERA in 21.2 innings.
Florida State is 84-30 all-time against Duke, including 46-11 at home, 27-12 on the road and 11-6 at a neutral site. The last two matchups have been in the ACC Championship, a 14-7 win in the 2025 quarterfinal after a 16-4 loss in the 2024 title game. The Blue Devils come to Tallahassee for the first time since 2024, when FSU took two-of-three. The Seminoles also won the series in Durham in 2024. In a series that began in Tallahassee in 1954, Florida State has two 13-game win streaks, from 1997-2001 and again from 2002-2005, with just one loss in between those streaks. Following a solo defeat in 2005, another five-game win streak followed, for a 31-2 stretch.