Clemson Travels to Florida State for Crucial ACC Series
After picking up their best win of the season on Tuesday night against in-state rival South Carolina, the Tigers hit the road facing another tall task.
Winners of eight of their last eleven, Clemson (23-21, 15-15) heads to Tallahassee for a crucial weekend series against No. 17 Florida State (26-18, 17-13). The Tigers are looking to finish the season strong and can ill-afford a poor showing against the Seminoles.
"I think we all know we're fighting like crazy to get into the postseason," Monte Lee said after the win over the Gamecocks. "We're fighting every game to put ourselves in a position to get into the postseason. We certainly took a step in the right direction tonight but we still got work to do."
Clemson is just 5-12 on the road this season and will need Friday night starter Mack Anglin to rebound from a rare bad outing in Atlanta when he issued 8 walks in just 4 innings of work in a 6-1 series opening loss to Georgia Tech.
STARTING PITCHERS
• Friday - RHP Mack Anglin (CU) vs. LHP Bryce Hubbart (FSU)
• Saturday - LHP Keyshawn Askew (CU) vs. RHP Conor Grady (FSU)
• Sunday - TBA (CU) vs. TBA (FSU)
The Tigers are also hopeful that freshman sensation Caden Grice can get back on track. Grice is just 1-19 since hitting 4 homeruns and driving in 12 runs in a weekend sweep of Louisville two weeks ago.
"Caden is a really good hitter, he's one of the best hitters in the country," Lee said Tuesday. "Baseball is just getting him a little bit right now, but it's happened to every hitter in his lineup at some point time. He's going to be fine. I mean I'm not concerned with Caden."
The Seminoles come in after taking two out of three from Atlantic Division leading Notre Dame last weekend and splitting two midweek games with Florida Gulf Coast. Overall, Florida State has won eight of their past 12 games, but are just 16-12 at home on the season.
After the big midweek win over the Gamecocks, Clemson has moved up to No. 47 in the RPI. The Tigers are currently projected to make the postseason as a three-seed, but winning this series on the road against a Seminoles team that currently sits at No. 40 in the RPI, would go a long ways towards helping to solidify themselves a spot in regional play.
"We got to go down to Tallahassee and play a really good Florida State club now, on the road, which is always a challenge," Lee said. "And then we got Duke coming at home. But every game right now, quite honestly, it's like a it's like a playoff game for us."
Game one is set for Friday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. The second game is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday, with the third and final game set for Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday night's game will be broadcast on the ACC Network, with the final two games being available on ACCNX.
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