Florida State Baseball Lands Commitment from JUCO All-American

After their third consecutive season with 40 wins, and an early exit from the postseason, the transfer portal gives and the transfer portal takes away for the Florida State (40-19) baseball program.

Immediately after the final out was recorded for the Seminoles season, players started hitting the transfer portal. One of those players was starting catcher Hunter Carns. Carns was a stable force behind the plate and a leader on the field for the Seminoles as he batted .303 with a .892 OPS, swatted six home runs, plated 32 runs and walked 33 times.

To replace Carns, Seminoles head coach Link Jarrett went out and recruited 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior college All-American catcher Coy Clements. In 61 games, Clements batted .392 with 24 home runs (single-season record) and 71 runs batted in. Clements also displayed patience at the plate, drawing 54 walks.

In addition, his slugging percentage was .844, and Clements posted 10 doubles and one triple. Clements helped the Pearl River Community College Wildcats (50-11) win the 2026 NJCAA Division II National Championship, their second in program history.

Clements’s 54 walks were the second-most in school history and his 71 RBI ranks No. 5 on the school’s all-time list. Not too shabby for a player who redshirted at mid-major powerhouse Southern Miss in 2025.

According to Brett Nevitt of Noles 247, Clements is eligible for the Major League Draft this summer and will go through the draft process. Clements was quoted as saying, “It would take a lot for me to go in that direction, and I look forward to the development here at FSU and all they can do for me.”

Florida State entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 national seed and hosted the Tallahassee regional for the 38th time in school history. But the St. John’s Red Storm had other plans, sending the Seminoles to the loser’s bracket after a 5-4 loss in game 1. Bad weather and bad baseball took its toll on the Seminoles, and both were the catalyst for an early end to an otherwise successful season.

Clements will join presumably returning starting outfielder John Stuetzer, who was named to the ACC-All Freshman team, and potentially first baseman Myles Bailey, who could be back after a season-ending leg injury suffered in the Duke series.

Stuetzer led the team in RBI with 43, to go with 10 home runs. Bailey could still be drafted, but it could be in the lower rounds due to the injury, which could prompt Bailey to return to Tallahassee for another season of college baseball. At the time of his injury, Bailey had posted 13 home runs and 33 RBI.

Jarrett also needs to re-recruit outfielders Brody DeLamielleure and Brayden Dowd to give the Seminoles a solid core of returning talent. DeLamielleure had an 18-game hitting streak this past season and batted .343 with seven home runs and 29 RBI. Dowd batted .293 with 10 home runs and 36 runs batted in.

Next month’s Major League Draft will dictate what personnel Jarret will have to work with in 2027. But the addition of Clements gives Jarrett a power-hitting and commanding presence on the field with which to build a team around.

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