Florida State Gets Past Jacksonville, Turns Attention to Clemson

For the tenth consecutive meeting, the Florida State Seminoles defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins (26-21, 13-11 in ASUN) on the baseball diamond. On Tuesday, the Seminoles put the game out of reach, courtesy of a two-run home run by center fielder Brayden Dowd in the bottom of the eighth inning to seal a 5-2 victory over Jacksonville to sweep the season series at Dick Howser Stadium.  

Florida State (34-14, 16-9 in ACC) collected 10 hits on the day and held the Dolphins scoreless over the final six innings to claim the mid-week victory. Dowd went 3-for-5 at the plate and added a double in addition to his round-tripper and recorded two RBI.

Right fielder Brody DeLamielleure also helped the cause, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Left fielder John Stuetzer added a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to put the Seminoles on the scoreboard 2-1. Catcher Nathan Cmeyla added two RBI.

Florida State earned their 25th home victory of the season, and according to D1 Baseball, is projected to host a regional in the post-season. If that projection holds true, the Seminoles would host Arkansas, East Carolina and North Florida as a No. 13 national seed.

True to form, Florida State coach Link Jarrett burned through five of his hurlers to get the victory, and all five combined for 14 strikeouts.

Jarrett, speaking to the media at his post-game press conference, spoke about his pitching staff and the approach to the final two conference series,

“You want all hands on deck, so you feel like you're as full with your strength and your workload as you could be at this time in the bullpen. And we've been very conservative with bouncing these guys back on shorter rest. almost to a fault at times."

"I wonder, but we want to protect them and they are so dynamic and strong and the way the players throw these secondary pitches now, it's so forceful that we try to give them the proper rest without forcing guys. There were guys that you would probably wonder, were they available today? So, we have been on the side of no with that to get to this point and I hope I hope it helps us down the stretch.”

With the final mid-week game of the season in the books, the Seminoles now turn their attention to the final two ACC series remaining on their schedule, beginning with a conference series on the road at Clemson (28-20, 8-16 in ACC) on Friday, May 8.

In a series history that began in 1958, Florida State holds an 85-78-1 record vs. Clemson. In their last meeting in 2025, Florida State run-ruled the Tigers 20-9 at Dick Howser Stadium.  However, the last time the Seminoles won at Clemson was a 4-3 victory in 2022. Clemson has won seven of the last eleven meetings vs. Florida State.

Clemson has pitchers and hitters that rank among the best in the ACC. At the plate, Clemson is led by catcher/outfielder Nate Savoie. Savoie leads the team with a .351 batting average. He has a 1.097 OPS and ranks in the top ten in the ACC in hits (No. 7 with 67), home runs (No. 4 with 16) and slugging percentage (No. 8 with .665 percentage).

On the mound, Clemson can counter with Michael Sherman and Aidan Knaak. Sherman’s 3.04 ERA is good enough for No. 6 in the league, and Knaak has rung up 82 strikeouts, which is fourth-best in the ACC.

Savoie and the rest of the Clemson lineup will have to face off against one of the best pitchers in the ACC, and in college baseball, in Wes Mendes. Mendes ranks among the top three in the league in the following:

2.25 ERA: 3rd in the ACC

.188 Opponents Batting Average: 3rd in the ACC

93 Strikeouts: 2nd in the ACC

8 Wins: Tied for 1st in the ACC

3 Home Runs Allowed: 2nd in the ACC

In game 1 against Pitt, Mendes became the first Florida State pitcher to throw a complete game victory since 2018. The Seminoles defeated Pitt 10-1. 

Date: Friday, May 8

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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