The Florida State baseball team fell behind early but capitalized on a strong outing from pitcher Bryce Hubbart to top Clemson, 8-3, Friday in game one of the Seminoles' final weekend home series of the season.
The redshirt freshman struck out seven batters in 6.0 innings of work for FSU (27-18, 18-13 ACC), while redshirt junior third baseman Logan Lacey contributed two doubles and 3 RBIs.
Don't miss out on our great sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial!
After Hubbart hit the first batter he faced on the foot, two of the next three reached to score the leadoff man and give Clemson a 1-0 lead. From then on, the lefty worked his way out of a jam in the first and settled into a groove.
Hubbart tossed scoreless frames in the next five innings.
In the third inning, Florida State’s bats came alive and took advantage of Hubbart’s quality start. Shortstop Nander De Sedas led off the inning by reaching base after being hit by a pitch. Second baseman Jackson Greene also reached on a bunt, and Lacey continued his hot month of May by clearing the bases with a double in the left-field corner to take a 2-1 lead.
The rally continued when left fielder Robby Martin singled to score Lacey with two outs. Martin also flashed in the field with a highlight catch, jumping up against the green monster in right field to grab a deep drive.
As the game wore on, Hubbart only picked up steam. While improving to 6-4 on the year, he didn’t allow a baserunner in either of his final two innings.
FSU helped out his cause by tacking on another run in the bottom of the sixth by the way of a Nico Baldor single.
Clemson made things interesting in the seventh once redshirt senior Chase Haney took over for Hubbart. Tigers junior second baseman and leadoff hitter Sam Hall smacked a two-run homer to left field to cut the deficit to 4-3.
That all changed in the eighth when FSU loaded the bases and Lacey blew things open with a two-run double. Mat Nelson recovered from three earlier strikeouts to join in on the fun with an RBI single of his own.
After winning the opener, FSU will face Clemson in game two of the series Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by the home finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
------------------------
Discuss this story with other FSU fans on our Seminole Baseball Message Board
