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3 Up, 3 Down: Florida State smashes the Clemson Tigers to take the series

FSU’s 16 runs are its most against Clemson since a 20-5 win in 1997.

Update: The game has been delayed due to weather.

The Florida State Seminoles (21-13, 9-8) put together an utterly dominant performance over the No. 16 Clemson Tigers (25-10, 11-6) blowing them out, 16-2. The ’Noles clinched the series with today’s victory after defeating the Tigers, 6-2 in game one on Friday and handed Clemson its’ first back-to-back losses since April 13, and 14, 2018. The Tigers had previously answered each of their last 15 losses. This was also the first time FSU scored double digit runs since March 2 against Mercer.

Three Up:

  • After a slow start, the Seminoles batting woes vanished and a new Florida State team emerged. At the start of the fourth inning and lasting through to the sixth, the Seminoles scored twelve runs finishing off with a total of 16 runs, 14 hits, and four home runs. Nine different players had at least one RBI in the victory.
  • The ’Noles performance was led by leadoff hitter Mike Salvatore, who went 4-for-5 with three RBI, a double, and a home run. The senior leads FSU with a .324 average this season. He was followed by junior center fielder J.C. Flowers who went 3-for-4 and had his first multi-home run game of his career (two) bringing his season total to eight. Flowers also finished with five RBI. Sophomore Cooper Swanson can be credited for igniting the home run party as he brought in the Seminoles’ first run of the day in the bottom of the fourth which was immediately followed by Flowers’s first home run. After a spectacular start to the season freshman Elijah Cabell had found himself in a bit of a slump going 0-24 in his last at-bats. Tonight, the Seminoles’ success appeared to rub off on him as Cabell shook his hitless streak away recording one hit and two RBIs.

Cooper Swanson and J.C. Flowers back-to-back homers:

Another one for Flowers:

Mike Salvatore:

  • The Seminoles’ pitching dominance continued as sophomore C.J. Van Eyk followed up Drew Parrish’s phenomenal Friday performance in a big way. Van Eyk pitched a career-high 8.0 innings, allowing only four hits, striking out four, and allowing just two earned runs. He also walked a single Tiger, but not until the top of the eighth. After Van Eyk’s first pitch of the game resulted in a Clemson home run, the Florida State defense gave him confidence by throwing out an enemy trying to turn a single into a double. The Tigers did not score again until the seventh inning after another solo home run. Relief Pitcher Antonio Velez finished the game by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

Oh, Van Eyk also did this... no big deal:

Three Down:

  • After zero errors on Friday, the Seminoles had a pair this afternoon. Neither error resulted in a run, but Florida State still needs to limit their errors. The errors cause more pitches, shortening a pitcher’s day but more importantly can cause a pitcher to try and be too perfect with his pitches as he cannot trust his defense.
  • In a more than spectacular showing for a majority of the lineup on Saturday afternoon, the Seminoles’ second hitter Alec Sanchez went, 0-6 striking out once. On the bright side, Sanchez had his first career outfield assist, throwing out the Tigers’ Logan Davidson who was trying to stretch a single to a double that was mentioned above.
  • Where was this Florida State team when they played the Gators? That’s the biggest down of the night and a question that doesn’t really have an answer.

The Seminoles will look for the series sweep on Sunday at 1:00 PM and will air on ESPNNEWS.

Game Thread

Box Score

Mike Martin post-game press conference:

FSU baseball coach Mike Martin post-Clemson victory press conference

Posted by TomahawkNation.com on Saturday, April 13, 2019