After dropping a heartbreaker on Saturday night to open a 3-game series against Clemson, Florida State showed some much-needed resiliency by taking the final two games. In the rubber game on Monday night, FSU scored two runs in the seventh inning to go ahead for good before holding off the Tigers, 7-6.
A solo home run by Cal Raleigh put the Seminoles ahead to stay while Alec Byrd was excellent in relief to pick up his second win of the year. FSU is back to .500 in ACC play and will host Stetson on Wednesday.
The Good: The Florida State offense continues to put runs on the board. Monday’s contest marked the fourth straight game in which the Seminoles scored at least seven runs and each came against a ranked opponent. Four of FSU’s 10 hits went for extra bases on Monday.
The Bad: Despite a good offensive showing, FSU still left a number of runs on the field. The Seminoles finished just 3-for-19 with runners on base and 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Clemson wasn’t much better, going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Ugly: For those who like sound defense and good fundamental baseball, Monday’s game was less than ideal. The two teams combined for five errors, leading to seven combined unearned runs. FSU had three of the five errors, but Clemson’s play in the field may have been more egregious. On a come-backer with the bases loaded to Clemson starter Pat Krall in the third, catcher Chris Williams missed tagging the plate on the throw home. In the eighth inning, left fielder Reed Rohlman misplayed a routine fly-ball off the bat of FSU’s Quincy Nieporte, which landed for a double.
Studs of the Game: Alec Byrd allowed just an unearned run in three innings of relief for FSU while giving up just three hits to pick up the win. Dylan Busby had a bases-clearing double in the fourth that gave the Seminoles their first lead while Cal Raleigh’s solo blast in the seventh put FSU ahead for good. Seth Beer, Chris Williams and Robert Jolly all homered for Clemson, combining to go 6-for-12 at the dish with four runs scored and five RBIs.
Duds of the Game: Jackson Lueck was 0-for-5 at the plate for FSU in the win. For Clemson, Logan Davidson and Grayson Byrd were a combined 0-for-7 with three strikeouts. On the mound, Clemson’s Jacob Hennessey allowed two runs without recording an out.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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