No. 14 Florida State baseball suffered a tough 4-3 loss to Clemson on Saturday, setting up a decisive rubber match on Sunday. The Seminoles (35-15, 16-10 ACC) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but their bats went completely silent after the fourth inning—a stunning collapse that left fans and players alike searching for answers.
The game started with promise. In the first inning, Brayden Dowd crushed a solo home run to put FSU on the board, followed by a Brody DeLamielleure double and an RBI single from Hunter Carns. The lead grew to 3-0 in the third when DeLamielleure launched his second homer of the weekend, a solo shot that had the Seminoles faithful feeling confident.
But then the offense vanished. From the fifth inning onward, Florida State didn't record a single baserunner as Clemson's pitchers retired 17 straight batters. Dowd, DeLamielleure, and Carns combined for five of the Seminoles' eight hits and all three RBIs, but the rest of the lineup struggled mightily—especially the 5-through-9 hitters, who went a combined 3-for-19 with seven strikeouts.
On the mound, starter Trey Beard was electric early, not allowing a hit until two outs in the fourth inning. However, a two-out single followed by a two-run homer cut FSU's lead to 3-2. Beard battled through a clean fifth but ran into trouble in the sixth, when back-to-back singles and an RBI groundout tied the game at 3-3. Chris Knier came on in relief for the second straight day and settled things down, getting a flyout and popout to escape the inning. He kept Clemson scoreless in the seventh as well.
The game remained deadlocked until the eighth inning, when a wild pitch with the bases loaded proved to be the difference. Clemson pushed across the go-ahead run, and the Seminoles couldn't answer in the ninth. It was a frustrating end for an FSU team that had control early but couldn't sustain its momentum.
With the series now tied at one game apiece, Sunday's rubber match becomes crucial for both teams' ACC positioning. The Seminoles will need to rediscover their offensive rhythm and get contributions from the entire lineup if they hope to take the series.