The Clemson baseball team is preparing to take on the Florida State Seminoles this weekend in Tallahassee with ACC standings on the line.
Following a huge home series win over the Louisville Cardinals last weekend, Clemson baseball (25-8, 11-4 in the ACC) moved into second place in the ACC just one game behind the NC State Wolfpack.
The Tigers are playing really good baseball right now with solid pitching and a good mixture of offense. The expectations coming into this season were not very high for most Clemson baseball fans, but the Tigers have proven that they can reload and compete with the best teams in the nation.
This weekend, Clemson will be taking on a Florida State team that has not played up to its expectations.
The Seminoles were expected to be an elite team this season, as they are basically every year, but have fallen short of that so far. FSU (19-13, 7-8 in the ACC) is looking to turn it around as we have moved past the midway point of ACC play. The Seminoles currently sit in fourth place in the ACC Atlantic and are tied for seventh in the conference.
Despite their disappointing season to this point, Florida State is still a dangerous team with plenty of talent. Tallahassee is one of the toughest places to play in the ACC, no doubt, and the Tigers will certainly need to come ready to play.
Florida State has a few really good pitchers in Drew Parrish, CJ Van Eyk and reliever Conor Grady. Third baseman Drew Mendoza has solid power and is hitting pretty well.
The Tigers need to continue to play well and get good outings from Davis Sharpe and Mat Clark on Friday and Saturday. Freshman Keyshawn Askew hasn’t had the best performances the past two weekends on Sunday, but I expect him to recover and play well against the Seminoles.