CLEMSON, S.C. — The Tigers left nine runners on base and couldn’t hold up in the middle innings Friday, dropping the series opener to Florida State at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, 8-4, snapping a three-game winning streak.
Clemson went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position. The opportunities were there. The results weren’t.
Dane Moehler kept it manageable early. The redshirt freshman allowed one run over two innings before giving way in the third, leaving with a 1-0 deficit that still felt like a game. Justin LeGuernic couldn’t hold it. The lefty inherited one out in the third and gave up six runs on seven hits over three frames. Three runs in the third. Two more in the fourth on a Stuetzer two-run shot. DeLamielleure added a solo homer to center in the fifth. By the time Landon Fowler took over, Florida State led 7-2 and Wes Mendes was cruising.
Mendes was the other half of the problem. The right-hander worked 101 pitches over six innings and struck out 10, keeping Clemson off balance from the first inning on. The Tigers rarely squared him up, and when they did get runners on, they couldn’t make FSU pay. Bryce Clavon was the exception. He walked twice, stole two bases, and scored twice, but the lineup around him had nothing.
The fourth inning was the night in miniature. Jarren Purify led off with a double down the left-field line. Tyler Lichtenberger doubled him home to make it 6-2. Something stirring. Then Jack Crighton flied out, Jason Fultz Jr. struck out, and Clavon went down looking on three pitches. Lichtenberger stranded at second. That was the pattern all night.
Clemson kept scratching. Jacob Jarrell drove in Clavon in the third and again in the seventh, both times with Clavon having walked and stolen his way into scoring position. Crighton singled in Tryston McCladdie in the sixth. Four runs, spread across four different innings, and Florida State never had to sweat.
Landon Fowler gave the Tigers two clean frames in the sixth and seventh. Florida State added an unearned run in the top of the ninth after a catcher’s throwing error let Dowd score on a DeLamielleure sac fly. Clemson trailed 8-4 when the bottom half started.
Jackson Moore pinch hit for Jason Fultz Jr. and singled to left. Then Clavon grounded into a double play. Two outs, and the inning’s best chance gone before it started.
But the Tigers weren’t done. Nate Savoie walked. Luke Gaffney singled. Jarrell drew a walk to load the bases. FSU went to closer Payton Manca. Three men on, two outs, and Tryston McCladdie flied out to center to end it.
Jarrell finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two walks, the one constant in an otherwise quiet lineup. Clemson falls to 29-21 overall and 8-17 in ACC play. Florida State improves to 35-14.
The Tigers host Florida State again Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.
