Three up, three down: FSU drops series to Clemson behind error filled inning

Clemson, SC - Carson Montgomery lasted one inning in his first Sunday start of the year and the FSU defense came unraveled in the eighth as Clemson won 8-5 to clinch the series over the ‘Noles.

For the first time of the series, FSU kept Clemson off the board in the first inning. The Seminoles were able to strike first with a three-run first inning led by Jordan Carrion. The UF transfer walked and stole second before being plated by a James Tibbs RBI double. Tibbs scored on a throwing error and Brett Roberts was singled in by Reese Albert. Carson Montgomery could not hold the lead in the bottom of the second as Clemson’s Caden Grice hit a three-run homer to knot the game. Wyatt Crowell relieved Montgomery to keep the game at three a piece.

The game remained tied until the sixth when Carrion continued his hot streak. With Alex Toral and Tyler Martin on base, Carrion laced a double past the diving third baseman to give FSU a 5-3 lead. With Crowell still on the mound, the Tigers mounted a comeback of their own with a lead off double from Blake Wright. Max Wagner reached base with a throwing error by Logan Lacey which scored Wright. After a sacrifice bunt, Crowell struck out the next batter before inducing an inning ending pop fly. Jackson Baumeister was next on the mound for Florida State and only picked up one out after walking two. Jonah Scolaro relieved Baumeister but coughed up the lead off another Wright double. Davis Hare finally shut the inning down as the game headed to the eighth tied at five.

The Seminoles threatened in the eighth with two runners on before Lacey fanned to end the inning. Clemson also threatened in the eighth but delivered as FSU’s defense came apart at the seams. Hare fanned Grice to start the inning but Colton Vincent could not handle the third strike and Grice reached first. A single advanced Grice to third before Vincent’s bad throw on a steal attempt at second skipped away from Treyton Rank and allowed Grice to score the go-ahead run. After another FSU fielding error, Clemson picked up their second and third runs of the inning off an RBI groundout and two more FSU errors. Florida State failed to mount the comeback in the ninth and fell to Clemson 8-5.

Game Thread

Box Score

Three up

Jordan Carrion does it all

I considered just posting clips from the FSU Twitter account. But let me first add that Carrion after his sixth inning double was 17/34 in his last 10 games with 4 XBH, 9 RBI, 11 R, and 2 SB (as reported by Brett Nevitt). The sophomore has been a much needed spark. And now, those clips:

Crowell provides relief

The FSU pen has turned things around after early season struggles. After Montgomery’s one inning start, Crowell stepped in and acted as the Seminoles’ starter. The sophomore responded with four clean innings and a fifth where the run scored off an error. Crowell also recorded six strikeouts on the day and made Clemson’s left handed batters look foolish.

Treyton Rank steps in

FSU second baseman Jackson Greene injured his leg in Wednesday’s win over Georgia Southern. In his place, Treyton Rank has become FSU’s newest jack-of-all trades infielder. He saw time at first, second, and third over the weekend and picked up six hits in the series. FSU’s freshmen and new faces continue to make their presence known for the Seminoles.

Three down

The Sunday starter

Carson Montgomery was tapped for his first weekend start of the year and unfortunately could not escape the second inning. It was not the result the Seminoles had hoped after the recent struggles of previous Sunday starter Ross Dunn. Montgomery’s performance was hopefully an aberration and we’ll see the Sunday slot secured from the sophomore moving forward.

Baumeister has an off day

The freshman has shown flashes of brilliance for the Seminoles at times this season with an electric arsenal. But there has been one blip in his appearances —the free passes. Coming into today’s game, Baumeister had allowed 11 walks in his 17.2 innings. He relieved Crowell in the seventh and dished out two more walks, one which later scored, before being pulled.

Sloppy play sets up big inning for Clemson

The Seminoles committed five errors in the game but four of those occurred in the eighth inning. Colton Vincent’s dropped strike three, not counted as an error, started the big inning for the Tigers. That runner would eventually score off a throwing error from Vincent. Carrion would bobble a fielder’s choice attempt at short allowing a runner to reach third and later score. Before the inning would end, Vincent would pick up his second error of the inning with another errant throw to second. And you guessed it, that runner would score on another throwing error by Jordan Carrion.

Up next: Florida State will host TCU for a weekend series starting Friday.