FSU Falls to Clemson in Series-Opening Heartbreaker, 12-10

Florida State dropped the series opener to the Clemson Tigers 12-10 on J.D. Drew’s jersey retirement night at Dick Howser Stadium on Saturday. FSU rallied from nine runs down to tie the game, but Seth Beer’s 2-run single in the ninth served as the game-winner in the Tigers’ victory.

The Good: Anyone looking for fireworks got what they wanted on Saturday. In fact, Florida State’s 10 runs were the most given up by Clemson this whole season. It was still not enough to counter the 12 allowed by the Seminoles. It also translated to 30 total hits and both teams having a .366 overall hitting mark.

The Bad: Neither team had a night to remember from the mound. The Seminoles and the Tigers combined to use 11 different pitchers, each with differing results. Both starting pitchers gave up six earned runs, though it took Charles Barnes five innings compared to FSU starter Cole Sands’ 1 2/3 innings. From there on it was more of a mix when it came to pitching success. In general, both teams struggled to find consistency and had to evolve throughout the game.

The Ugly: For a little while in the second inning, it looked like FSU was about to get embarrassed to start the series. It let Clemson rack up seven runs off a terrible start by Sands. By the bottom of the third inning, it was 9-0 Tigers with no end in sight. Obviously, FSU would then rebound in the next few innings. But getting into those types of deficits has once again forced more theatrics, and it ultimately resulted in a loss.

Studs of the Game: Seth Beer for the Tigers was monstrous at the plate, notching three hits, four RBIs, and two runs, including a solo-smack out of the park and the game-winning hit. For FSU, Matt Henderson surprised everyone with three hits and four RBIs in four at-bats.

Duds of the Game: In desperate need of a solid start, FSU turned to Cole Sands, who gave up six runs in less than two innings of work. Clayton Kwiatkowski also failed to stop the bleeding, allowing three runs in 1 1/3 innings. At the plate, Quincy Nieporte for FSU and Clemson’s Jordan Greene were each 0-for-5.

Extra Innings: It was pretty awesome to see J.D. Drew become one of the two jerseys retired in Dick Howser Stadium. It makes one wonder how this season would be different if he was on the current team.