The Seminoles traveled to Clemson this past weekend in need of just 1 victory to wrap up the division and secure a #2 seed in the upcoming ACC tournament. Instead they were swept by a Clemson Tigers team that had lost 2 of 3 games the prior weekend to Wake Forest. Poor management, poor coaching, poor pitching, poor defense and poor hitting were all factors in FSU's 1st series sweep since 2006.
Game 1 saw Sean Gilmartin allow 5 runs over 6 innings despite striking out 9 batters. Florida State did manage to put up runs against Clemson's staff in thanks to Jayce Boyd's 2 solo homeruns and had a 8-6 lead going into the bottom of the 8th. Geoff Parker has been one of the ‘Noles best options out of the pen this year but on Thursday he was not on top of his game and struggled to throw strikes. He allowed 7 hits in 1 1/3 inning but for some reason was left out there even though closer Mike McGee was available to pitch. 3 runs later the ‘Noles lost the lead and Tomas Cruz shut down FSU in the 9th inning. Clemson 9-8
Postgame Mike Martin stated that putting in Mike McGee never really crossed his mind. Your team is a few outs from winning the division and the thought of inserting your lights out closer doesn't cross your mind. Not even Mike Martin is that inept. There is speculation that McGee has an injury that the team is trying to keep under wraps and given his struggles at the plate and Martin's unwillingness to pitch him this isn't out of the realm of possibility.
Game 2 was further proof to why Florida State will not make it far in the postseason as Brian Busch lasted just 2 2/3 innings surrendering 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. With the complete lack of pitching on this FSU staff they can ill afford the bats to go quite and that is exactly what happened on Friday night as they ‘Noles managed just 3 runs on 3 hits through the first eight innings. Clemson 8-4
Game 3 saw John Gast back in a starting role but unfortunately for the ‘Noles the results were no different than previous ones. Clemson scored first with 3 runs in the 1st on only 2 hits and 2 wild pitches. FSU came back with 2 runs in the 3rd on a RBI single and a double steal to make it a 1 run game and get back some momentum. The 3rd inning started off well for Gast by striking out 2 of the first 3 batters he faced and then striking the 3rd batter of the inning but catcher Parker Brunelle could not hold on and the runner advanced to 1st. From there the wheels officially came off as Gast walked the next batter and was relieved in favor of Tyler Everett who fared no better walking the first batter he faced followed by consecutive singles giving Clemson a 7-2 lead. The Seminoles answered with 1 run in the 4th but that was it as they managed just 3 hits past the 5th innings and lost. Clemson 8-3
The offense has carried this team all season and when they hit a slump their chances of winning seriously decreases. Tyler Holt, Mike McGee and Stuart Tapley went an anemic 3-29 with exactly zero extra base hits in the series. As a club the ‘Noles were beat in every facet of the game, their chances of hosting a Regional become extremely slim and will need an excellent showing in the ACC tournament to regain any chances of hosting.
The ACC Tournament starts this week and FSU is in the same pool at Miami, Virginia and Boston College, to expect them to come out of there after the way they have played all season seems slim. Come back on Wednesday morning for a complete preview of FSU in the ACC Tournament.