One player drove in every run Clemson needed to come back. Two pitchers handled the rest. Jarren Purify, Danny Nelson, and Hayden Simmerson were the whole story Saturday night as Clemson beat Florida State 4-3 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, keeping the Tigers alive in the ACC series heading into Sunday’s finale.
Purify drove in all three runs Clemson needed, a two-run shot in the fourth, a tying single in the sixth. Nelson was unhittable. Four innings, zero baserunners. Twelve in a row. Simmerson came on to close and punched out the side in the ninth.
Florida State didn’t waste time. Brayden Dowd led off the second plate appearance of the game with a solo shot to right center off Michael Sharman, and two batters later Hunter Carns singled home Brody DeLamielleure, who had doubled to set the table. FSU was up 2-0 before Clemson recorded three outs.
DeLamielleure wasn’t done. He came back in the third and crushed a solo homer to left center off Sharman to push the lead to 3-0. Two at-bats, two extra-base hits. The entire FSU offensive output through three innings ran through one guy.
Clemson kept leaving runs on the field. McCladdie got plunked in the second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Nothing. Jason Fultz Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the third and Bryce Clavon hit into a double play. Twice the Tigers had something going. Twice they came away empty.
Sharman lasted four innings on 66 pitches, 8 hits and 3 earned runs. Nelson took over in the fifth.
Florida State’s last hit was Carter McCulley’s single in the top of the fourth, before Nelson threw a pitch. He went four innings without a hit, a walk, or a sweat.
The offense found Purify while Nelson was doing that.
Two outs in the fourth, Tryston McCladdie on first. Purify got ahold of a Beard fastball and drove it down the left-field line. Two-run shot. McCladdie scored without a play, and a 3-0 hole was suddenly 3-2.
The sixth was messier. Luke Gaffney singled to right. Jacob Jarrell hit to left center, runners at first and second. McCladdie’s bunt created a fielder’s choice at second — not clean, but it moved Gaffney to third. Purify stepped in and punched a single to left. Gaffney came home. Tied at three, and the ballpark felt it.
FSU pulled Beard and went to Knier. He stranded McCladdie at third after Purify swiped second. Didn’t matter. Three RBIs on two hits. Purify had done every bit of it.
Seven innings gone, scoreboard frozen.
Then Gaffney singled again to lead off the eighth — his second hit of the night. Two outs later, the bases were loaded. FSU walked Purify intentionally, which tells you everything about how the night had gone for him, and Lichtenberger worked a free pass right after. Florida State went to its fourth pitcher of the night, O’Leary. The go-ahead run scored anyway. Clemson led 4-3.
That was it.
Simmerson came on for the ninth. Fraser, looking. Sheffield — pinch-hitting for Barrett — looking. Fisher, swinging. Nine pitches. Done.
Nelson and Simmerson combined for five hitless innings. Fifteen batters, none of them on base. FSU hadn’t put the ball in play for a hit since McCulley’s single five innings earlier. Sharman dug the hole in four innings; the bullpen spent the next five making sure it stayed buried.
Gaffney finished 2-for-4, two runs scored. Purify, 2-for-3 with a stolen base, three RBIs, and the intentional walk that set up the go-ahead run. He accounted for every Clemson run before the bullpen took over.
After dropping the series opener Friday, the Tigers evened things up Saturday and will look to take the weekend in Sunday’s finale at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Clemson then travels to Spartanburg to face USC Upstate on Tuesday, May 12 at Fifth Third Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
