Florida State head baseball coach Link Jarrett is going to have plenty of time on the ride back to Tallahassee to contemplate a few things about his team. First, he’ll need to take a serious look at the bullpen, which blew 7-run and 9-run leads in back-to-back games at Clemson. The other question will be a personal one: why did I ever pitch to Tiger third baseman Blake Wright?
A day after hitting a 9th-inning grand slam to highlight Clemson’s 9-8 comeback win, Wright was at it again on Sunday. The senior belted another grand slam and drove in five as the Tigers erased an 11-2 deficit to defeat Florida State 14-12 and sweep the three-game ACC series at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. With their seventh consecutive win, Clemson improved to 22-2 overall and 5-1 in the ACC, while Florida State fell to 19-3 overall and 3-3 in the league.
Much like Saturday’s collapse, the Seminoles seemingly had the game in hand heading into the latter innings. On Sunday, Florida State scored five runs in the second and five more in the sixth to build their nine-run advantage. However, Clemson answered with five of its own in the bottom of the sixth, squeezing the vice a little tighter on the Florida State bullpen.
The Seminoles did not handle those pressure situations very well, walking five batters in the decisive seventh inning, before Wright unloaded his 13th HR of the season to complete the comeback and put the Tigers in front for good.
Lucas Mahlstedt (1-0) earned his first win as a Tiger by pitching 2.0 scoreless innings in relief, while Rob Hughes pitched 1.2 innings to record his third save of the year. Carson Dorsey (2-2) suffered the loss for Florida State.
Clemson gets a solid midweek test on Tuesday, as the Tigers play host to Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m.