Seminole baseball is one of the most successful collegiate baseball programs in the United States having been to 23 College World Series in 55 Tournament appearances, and having appeared in the national championship final on three occasions. While under the command of Head Coach #11 Mike Martin, Florida State became the 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 42 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 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 1000th College World Series game. 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 (1948–1951)
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 era (1952–1954)
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.
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.
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.
Woody Woodward era (1975–1978)
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.
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.
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–present)
On June 21, 2019, Mike Martin Jr., a former player and assistant, was named head coach of the Seminoles.
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 9–5.
Head coaches
Records are through the 2020 season
Tenure
Coach
Years
Record
Pct.
1948–1951
Charlie Armstrong
4
46–29
1952–1954
Ralph Matherly
3
43–22–1
1955–1963
Danny Litwhiler
9
190–83–1
1964–1968
Fred Hatfield
5
159–57–1
1969–1974
Jack Stallings
6
249–106–2
1975–1978
Woody Woodward
4
170–57
1979
Dick Howser
1
43–17–1
1980–2019
Mike Martin
40
2,029–736–4^
2020–
Mike Martin, Jr.
1
12–5
Totals
9 coaches
70 seasons
2,941–1,113–10
^4 wins were vacated due to the academic scandal in 2007.
Current coaching staff
Head coach: Mike Martin, Jr.
Assistant coach: Mike Metcalf
Pitching coach: Jimmy Belanger
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 Gold's
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 has ended their baseball season ranked 53 times. Top-10 finishes are colored ██
Year
Record
Final Ranking
1961
21–7
17
1962
23–14
4
1963
27–13
6
1965
32–11–1
5
1966
39–13
9
1967
30–14
13
1968
35–6
12
1969
39–12–1
10
1970
49–9–1
2
1971
41–16
23
1972
45–23
19
1973
38–21
24
1975
49–10
2
1976
40–16
14
1980
51–12
7
Year
Record
Final Ranking
1981
56–23
16
1982
56–17–1
22
1983
55–18–1
15
1985
59–23
20
1986
61–13
2
1987
55–18
6
1988
50–18–1
15
1989
54–18
3
1990
57–15
10
1991
57–14
7
1992
49–21
5
1993
46–19
22
1994
53–22
6
1995
53–16
5
1996
52–17
6
Year
Record
Final Ranking
1997
50–17
9
1998
53–20
8
1999
57–14
2
2000
53–19
3
2001
47–19
9
2002
60–14
9
2003
54–13–1
9
2004
45–23
14
2005
53–20
15
2006
44–21
24
2007
45–13
10
2008
54–14
7
2009
45–18
9
2010
48–20
6
2011
46–19
6
Year
Record
Final Ranking
2012
50–17
4
2013
47–17
13
2014
43–17
23
2015
44–21
12
2016
41–22
14
2017
46–23
6
2018
43-19
21
2019
42–23
6
2020
12–5
13
All-time record vs. ACC teams
Florida State baseball maintains a winning percentage against all current ACC teams.
^3 ACC wins are vacated from 2007 due to the academic scandal
Rivalries
Florida State in the NCAA Tournament
Florida State has appeared in the NCAA tournament a total of 57 times, including 42 straight appearances, the longest active streak. The Seminoles have hosted regionals a nation-leading total of 35 times, including eight consecutive times from 2011–2018, have been selected as a national seed a total of 11 times, the most of any school, and have advanced to a super-regional a nation-leading total of 17 times, including six straight appearances from 2008–2013.
The format of the tournament has changed through the years.
National Champions
Runner-up
College World Series
Super Regionals
Year
W
L
Percent
1956
1
2
1957
3
3
1958
1
2
1959
2
2
1961
1
2
1962
6
3
1963
4
3
1965
5
3
1966
3
2
1967
1
2
1968
3
2
1970
7
2
1972
1
2
1975
3
2
1976
1
2
1978
0
2
1979
0
2
1980
3
2
1981
2
2
1982
1
2
1983
1
2
1984
0
2
1985
2
2
1986
7
2
1987
5
3
1988
2
2
1989
6
2
1990
4
2
1991
4
2
1992
6
3
1993
2
2
1994
5
2
1995
5
2
1996
5
2
1997
4
2
1998
4
2
1999
9
2
2000
8
4
2001
4
2
2002
4
2
2003
4
3
2004
3
3
2005
3
2
2006
2
2
2007
1
2
2008
6
4
2009
3
2
2010
6
3
2011
4
2
2012
7
2
2013
3
2
2014
0
2
2015
3
2
2016
4
2
2017
7
4
2018
0
2
2019
6
2
Total:
197
128
College World Series
Florida State has made twenty-three appearances in the College World Series, compiling a 30–46 record and advancing to the title game on three occasions.
Year
Place
1957
8th
1962
4th
1963
5th
1965
6th
1970
2nd
1975
7th
1980
8th
1986
2nd
1987
5th
1989
3rd
1991
8th
1992
6th
1994
6th
1995
6th
1996
5th
1998
8th
1999
2nd
2000
3rd
2008
7th
2010
5th
2012
3rd
2017
6th
2019
5th
23
30–46
Championships
National Championship appearances
Florida State has appeared in the College World Series National Championship game three times in 1970, 1986 and 1999.
