Ugh. Last weekend was a series that I secretly hoped Clemson Baseball would not see this season, but had a sneaking suspicion that it was a distinct possibility. I’m not sure why, maybe it is just looking at the weekly stats of Clemson’s bats slowly falling down the national rankings in batting average.
Now I know batting average is not the end all-be all stat that it once was. However, it does give a 35,000 foot view of sorts and that view has been cloudy for quite a few weeks, yet Clemson has continued to win games. Until last weekend against an upstart NC State Wolfpack squad.
Now the sky is not falling, Clemson fans. This is still a very good baseball team we root for every day. It is ok to be angry at the result. But as with anything else, you have to flush it and move forward. And our Tigers need to flush last weekend and hit the road again for another Top 10 series with Florida State this weekend in Tallahassee.
The Tigers will take the trip down to Tallahassee, Florida starting on Friday to play a three game set with the Seminoles of Florida State University.
The series starts Friday night at Dick Howser Stadium. Friday’s game is at 6PM, followed by Saturday’s game at 6PM before closing it out on Sunday at 2PM.
Florida State comes into the series at 31-9 overall, 12-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranked as highly as #5 by D1 Baseball.
Clemson and Florida State have played 161 times all time, including many as top ranked teams. The Seminoles lead the all-time series 83-77-1.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s road ACC series against the Florida State Seminoles.
Clemson Briefly
Clemson enters the midweek with 36 wins and 10 losses. 13-8 in the ACC.
The Tigers are hitting .272 as a team through 46 games (185th nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 73 doubles (T-186th), 7 triples (T-178dth) and 54 home runs (T-79th).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.65 ERA (50th nationally). The staff has struck out 432 batters over 398.2 innings for an average of 9.8 per 9 innings (28th) and walked 163 through 46 games which is still 3.8 per 9 innings.
Opponents are hitting .235 against the Tigers pitching staff, up from .225 last weekend.
Here is a look at the Florida State Seminoles:
Florida State Seminoles
Head Coach – Link Jarrett (3rd Season at FSU)
2025 Record: 31-9 (12-6 ACC)
Wins: James Madison x3, South Florida x2, Penn x3, Jacksonville x2, Georgetown x3, North Florida, Bethune-Cookman, Lipscomb x2, Boston College x3, Miami x2, Florida, Notre Dame x2, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech x3, Stetson, Louisville
Losses: Florida x2, Mercer, Miami, Notre Dame, Wake Forest x2, Louisville x2
Here are the probable starting lineup for Florida State and their 2025 stats to date:
Position Players:
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats |
| Gage Harrelson (9) | Junior | RF | .370; 5 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 34 RBI; 12-15 SB |
| Alex Lodise (1) | Junior | SS | .440; 15 2B, 2 3B, 14 HR, 53 RBI; 6-6 SB |
| Max Williams (18) | Junior | CF | .318; 8 2B, 15 HR, 38 RBI; 2-3 SB |
| Myles Bailey (12) | Freshman | 1B | .306; 7 2B, 10 HR, 29 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Drew Faurot (3) | Junior | 2B | .293; 2 2B, 9 HR, 33 RBI; 7-10 SB |
| Cal Fisher (4) | Sophomore | 3B | .304; 6 2B, 6 HR, 28 RBI |
| Chase Williams (5) | Sophomore | LF | .388; 2B, 2 3B, 11 RBI; 9-9 SB |
| Jaxson West (20) | Junior | C/DH | .271; 4 2B, 13 RBI; 3-3 SB |
| Hunter Carns (25) | Freshman | DH/C | .284; 7 2B, 6 HR, 13 RBI |
Offensively, the Seminoles are led by a Dick Howser Golden Spikes front-runner, Junior Shortstop Alex Lodise. Hitting a team leading .440 with an OPS over 1.000 (1.293 to be exact), and has 14 home runs and also leads the team in RBIs with 53.
Junior 2nd Baseman Max Williams leads the team with 15 home runs while hitting .318.
Junior Right Fielder Gage Harrelson leads the team in stolen bases with 12 in 15 attempts on the season. Florida State has stolen 51 bases in 60 attempts over 40 games.
Florida State is hitting .318 as a team (13th nationally). They have hit 69 doubles (T-211th), 6 triples (T-219th) and 73 home runs as a team (T-20th).
Announced Starters for Florida State
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| Jamie Arnold (16) | Junior | LHP | 5-1; 2.39 ERA, 9 App; 49 IP; 68 K, 16 BB; OppBA: .185 |
| Joey Volini (17) | R. Junior | LHP | 8-1; 2.65 ERA; 10 App; 57.2 IP; 75 K, 15 BB; OppBA: .207 |
| Wes Mendes (7) | Sophomore | LHP | 5-2; 4.53; 10 App; 49.2 IP; 62 K, 27 BB; OppBA: .224 |
The Florida State pitching staff has a 4.58 staff ERA (41st nationally), having struck out 414 opponent hitters for an average of 11 per 9 innings (9th) while walking 178 or 4.6 per 9 innings.
The staff has given up 41 home runs as a staff through 40 games. Opponents are hitting .228 against the Wolfpack pitching staff.
The Seminoles will throw three left handed starters for all three games, and they are all having tremendous seasons. On Friday night, FSU will throw out there their ace, junior lefty Jamie Arnold. They have announced redshirt junior left hander Joey Volini on Saturday night and their third lefty starter to close it out on Sunday, sophomore Wes Mendes will get the ball for the Noles in the series finale.
Clemson has announced Aidan Knaak will get the ball on Friday night. Drew Titsworth will get his third consecutive game 2 start of a weekend series on Saturday night. And as of right now, Clemson has not announced a game 3 starter.
Summary
I am not sure there are such things as “must-win” series in college baseball. Before last weekend, Clemson had won all of their ACC series thus far. But this is a very important series between two big time rivals on the diamond.
The Seminoles started the season extremely fast, not losing a single game until game 16. They have been ranked in the top 10 for most of the season..
This is a really good Florida State team, back from a couple of down years (outside of last year’s Omaha team) and this should be a fun series all weekend long.
The two teams have three common opponents so far this season: Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and Louisville. Clemson is 6-3 in those games while Florida State is 4-5 against the same opponents.
***Statistics Graphics credit: Marty Coleman***
