by Matt Sefcovic (@MattSefcovic)
Prior to the series between Florida State (28-19, 19-14 ACC) and Clemson (24-23, 16-17 ACC), the NCAA Selection Committee released a list of 20 potential host sites for the NCAA Tournament, which will later be trimmed to 16 teams. College Baseball Nation had the Seminoles firmly positioned on the two line, but with a last minute push, it appeared they could find themselves as one of the final one seeds.
When the list was announced, Florida State was not one of the predetermined sites. It would have been easy for Mike Martin Jr. and his club to rollover and feel sorry for themselves, but instead, they took care of business against a Clemson team that was playing for a postseason berth.
On Friday night, the Tigers jumped out in front in the first inning with a 1-0 lead, but Florida State was able to keep Clemson off the base paths for the majority of the evening after a strong start from Bryce Hubbart (W, 6-4). Hubbart tossed six innings, giving up just one run on four hits and recording seven strikeouts. Jack Anderson (S, 4) came in to clean things up after the Tigers made a late push in the seventh inning, not allowing a baserunner for the final two innings.
The Seminoles scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach and won game one 8-3. Logan Lacey led the way at the plate for Florida State with two hits and three RBI while Sam Hall paced the Tigers with a two run home run in the seventh inning.
After losing game one on Friday night, Clemson was in desperation mode. Their bats woke up in game two, pounding out ten hits on their way to a 9-5 victory.
The Tigers two through five batters tallied seven hits and five RBI on the afternoon, led by Caden Grice, who continued swinging a hot bat, roping a home run in the eighth inning.
Davis Sharpe (W, 3-1) relieved starter Keyshawn Askew by throwing the final 4.1 innings. Sharpe allowed just three hits and kept the Seminoles off the scoreboard for the duration of his outing. Both Sharpe and Askew picked up eight strikeouts a piece.
Lacey picked up where he left off on Friday night, adding two more hits including a home run for the Seminoles. Elijah Cabell, who has been on a tear as of late, hit a grand slam in the fifth inning that momentarily gave Florida State the lead, but it was not enough to edge out a determined Clemson team.
On Sunday, the Tigers jumped all over the Seminoles with four runs in the first inning, but the lead did not last long as this game would go back-and-forth multiple times before Florida State prevailed, taking the rubber match and series by a score of 9-6.
The Seminoles scored three runs in the second, followed by two unearned runs in the third to take a 5-4 lead. Clemson would battle back and take the lead in the sixth inning off a two run home run by Blake Wright, but again, that would not prove to be enough.
In the eighth inning, the Seminoles sent ten batters to the plate, tacking on four more runs on their way to seal the series. Anderson (W, 2-0) came in and picked up his second victory of the season after recording the save on Friday night.
Tyler Martin led the offense with three hits and two RBI, while Davis Hare and Jackson Greene would also tack on two RBI apiece.
The Seminoles will travel to Raleigh to take on a red hot North Carolina State team that is 9-1 in their last ten games after sweeping Pittsburgh this weekend. The Tigers will host Duke in their regular season finale this weekend.
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