Wes Mendes dominated on the mound while the Seminoles' high-powered offense unleashed double-digit hits to secure a crucial road victory and bolster their postseason resume against Clemson.
Florida State Friday night starting pitcher Wes Mendes showed why he is one of the top pitchers in college baseball, ringing up 10 strikeouts to lead the Seminoles to a 7-4 win on the road at Clemson.
No. 12 Florida State (35-14, 16-9 in ACC) also broke out all the bats against Clemson (29-21, 9-16), collecting 11 hits on the day. Included in that number is two home runs, a two-run bomb by left fielder John Stuetzer (8th of the season) in the fourth inning and a solo round-tripper (6th of the season) by Brody DeLamielleure in the fifth.
The Seminoles collected double-digit hits for the fourth consecutive game.
It was another stellar outing for Mendes (9-3), who walked only two Clemson batters in 101 pitches in six innings of work. It was par for the course for coach Link Jarrett, using pitch counts and multiple arms from the bullpen.
Mendes was pulled and replaced by Chris Knier, who was later replaced by ace reliever John Abraham in the eighth inning to come in and close out the game for the Seminoles.
According to D1 Baseball, Abraham is ranked as the No. 1 relief pitcher in college baseball, and retired the side in the bottom of the eighth. But in the ninth, the game got exciting. Abraham gave up two hits and a walk and could not finish the inning.
After a meeting on the mound with pitching coach Micah Posey, coach Link Jarrett, and an athletic trainer, Abraham was led to the dugout and was replaced by reliever Brody Purcell.
Purcell walked another Clemson batter to load the bases, and he immediately got the hook from Posey, calling for Payton Manca to exit the bullpen. Manca retired the one batter he faced to secure the victory for Florida State. It was Manca’s first save of the season.
In his post-game press conference, Jarrett spoke about his team’s performance at the plate against Clemson’s pitching,
“The home runs helped. I thought the quality of the at-bat tonight was good. their lefty that they brought in after Mohler. I mean, that's 95, 96 with a really good breaking ball and our guys hung in there and delivered some blows, and we added on some runs as we went, which is very nice and gives you some sort of separation. There was a little more separation we could have had. Um, but it's hard to come in here and win on Friday night. And I'm proud of the way we played,” Jarrett said.
Trey Beard will get the start on Saturday for the Seminoles. Beard is 5-1 on the season, with a 5.13 ERA. He has 76 strikeouts and 21 walks.
Coming into the game, Florida State was ranked among the top ten in RPI in college baseball. A game 1 victory solidifies that ranking, and that bodes well for the Seminoles as they continue their journey toward the post-season.
How to Watch Game 2
Date: Saturday, May 9
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Clemson South Carolina
TV: ACC Network
Radio: 100.7 FM WFLA
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