Late grand slam ends Florida State baseball winning streak in opener at Clemson
Max Wagner’s second home run of the game – an eighth inning grand slam – led Clemson (25-13, 5-10 ACC) to a 6-4 win over visiting Florida State (23-14, 10-9) Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Starting pitcher Parker Messick allowed just two runs in 7.0 innings, with eight strikeouts and no walks. Davis Hare (1-1) allowed Wagner’s grand slam, the first FSU has allowed this season.
Messick’s eight strikeouts give him 102 on the season, the most in the country and only the second Nole in the past decade with back-to-back 100-strikeout seasons.
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Treyton Rank led FSU with three hits, including an RBI double that got the Noles on the board in the second inning. Jordan Carrion had two more hits – and now has 14 in his past eight games – and Brett Roberts had two hits and two runs scored.
Catcher Colton Vincent had two RBI, with his RBI double in the top of the eighth inning extending FSU’s lead to 4-2.
Clemson reached on two singles and a fielding error before Wagner’s grand slam.
SCORING SUMMARY
B1 | FSU 0, CU 1 Wright sacrifice fly, Blackwell scored
T2 | FSU 1, CU 1 Rank doubled, Roberts scored
T3 | FSU 2, CU 1 Tibbs struck out, Ferrer caught stealing, Carrion scored
B4 | FSU 2, CU 2 Wagner home run
T6 | FSU 3, CU 2 Vincent sacrifice bunt, Roberts scored
T8 | FSU 4, CU 2 Vincent doubled, Rank scored
B8 | FSU 4, CU 6 Wagner home run, Blackwell, Ingle & Wright scored
UP NEXT
Game two between the Tigers and Seminoles is Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and will stream on ACCNX. LHP Bryce Hubbart (6-1) will pitch for Florida State.
OF NOTE
Jordan Carrion now has a career-best six-game hitting streak, going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored.
Carrion hit in the leadoff spot for the first time this season. Over his last eight games, Carrion is 14-for-26 with 9 runs, 6 RBI, 2 doubles, a home run, 8 walks and has been hit by one pitch.
Starting pitcher Parker Messick struck out eight batters and leads the country with 102 on the season. He lowered his season ERA to 2.89.
Messick is the first Seminole since Drew Parrish (2018-19) with back-to-back 100-strikeout seasons and just the second in the past decade.
Jaime Ferrer was hit by a pitch for the 18th time, extending his ACC lead. He is tied for 5th in FSU single-season history and extended his on-base streak to a career-high 13 games. That is the longest current streak on the team.
Brett Roberts now leads FSU with five stolen bases after two on Friday. It was his first multi-steal game this year. He added two hits as FSU’s designated hitter.
Treyton Rank tied the game with an RBI double in the second inning. He extended his on-base streak to a career-best six games with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU drops series opener at Clemson despite strong start from Parker Messick
