THOMASVILLE – The Florida State Seminoles are no longer unconquered as they were swept by No. 4-ranked Clemson over the weekend. The ‘Noles, who were 19-0 and had just received their first national ranking of the season, gave up multi-run leads in all three games, including in the bottom of the ninth in game two.
It all started in game one as Florida State quickly built up a four-run lead in the top of the first. After the first inning, however, it was all Clemson.
The Tigers scored in five of the seven innings played. They tied the game at four in the second inning and then put up 11 more runs in the game. The ‘Noles cycled through five different pitchers in the game and no pitcher threw more than 2.2 innings. They allowed 14 hits and 15 runs, the most runs FSU has allowed in a single game all season.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the ‘Noles seemed to have a bounce back victory in hand. Though Clemson lead 1-0 after one, the ‘Noles began to put up runs off the back of 10 hits with just eight K’s in comparison.
FSU built up an 8-1 lead headed into the bottom of the ninth, but that is where everything unraveled.
Clemson remembered how good they are and began raking at the plate. It started with Jacob Hinderleider, who jacked a three-run bomb to left-centerfield, cutting the lead to four.
Then came the Tigers’ Blake Wright, who boasts 38 hits and 13 homers in 24 games this season. He hit a moonshot that he will never forget, a grand slam to bring the Tigers all the way back and tie the game at eight.
The heroics weren’t done yet, however, as Hinderleider found himself back up at the plate with the game winning run on base. A single to right-center brought the run in and Hinderleider, who had sparked the Clemson comeback in the first place, walked it off for the Tigers 9-8 win.
Game three went a bit better for the ‘Noles: 10 hits at the plate and 10 K’s from the bullpen helped their cause, but they still couldn’t stop the Tigers’ bats.
The combined efforts of Conner Whittaker, Brennen Oxford, Noah Short, Carson Dorsey and Joe Charles weren’t enough as Clemson racked up 14 hits and 14 runs, including 11 runs in just two innings which brought them back from an 11-2 deficit. Clemson secured the sweep and handed Florida State their first losses of the season.
Facing a top five team in Clemson will usually come with losses, but no one expected a sweep with multiple leads lost. The ‘Noles will now have to face another top team in the country in Florida in Jacksonville. They have already beaten the Gators once this season, but that was at home. Coming off a bad series sweep and facing a rival on a neutral field, this will be a true test of Florida State’s grit and mental toughness.