FSU: For all the marbles

By Michael McGuffee - May 13, 2007

It's senior day at Dick Howser Stadium with less favorable conditions that folks are used to here in Tallahassee. Mostly cloudy skies with a 40 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms, all under a heavy smokey haze, courtesy of nearby wildfires.

In game two the weather was the least of worries for No. 2 Florida State, but rather it was Clemson who rained all over the Seminoles' Saturday parade. The Tigers came through in the clutch to score three runs in the top of the ninth to take a 7-6 win after trailing all game.

Things ended badly for the Tribe, going scoreless for the last six consecutive innings and surrendering six unanswered runs. Seminole fans stood in disbelief, so disappointed in fact that several refused coupons as part of a free hot dog promotion while leaving the game. For those who aren't familiar, Florida State takes good care of the Garnet and Gold faithful with lots of good free stuff and the fans love it. It's not normal for them to be turning this stuff down.

The Seminoles showed once again that without ever-so-reliable senior Bryan Henry on the mound, things can get a little shaky and the Tigers took advantage to even up the series. The 'Noles will send junior Ryan Strauss (8-1) to the mound today, at-risk of losing their first ACC series of the season. The Tigers have elected to pitch sophomore right hander D.J. Mitchell (3-0).

Florida State will sport gold jerseys and pants for the special occasion of senior day, while the Tigers will once again go with the purple that brought them luck in game two. Sorry Clemson, I'm just not feeling the dark purple, or the traffic-cone orange for that matter.

Anyway, we'll be underway here shortly after the 'Noles honor their seniors.