Clemson head coach Monte Lee knows his baseball team has its stiffest test since the South Carolina series as the fourth-ranked Tigers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to take on No. 25 Florida State this weekend.

The Seminoles, who were once the preseason No. 1 team, have fallen on hard times as of late. The favorites to win the ACC this year come into their Atlantic Division three-game series with rival Clemson at 7-8 in the ACC and just 21-14 overall.

“There is going to be a high sense of urgency on their part,” Lee said. “I know their season has not gone the way they expected it to up to this point. They know how critical this series is going to be for them so they are going to be ready for us and I know they are going to compete with a high sense of urgency and they are going to compete like crazy to win a series at home.”

FSU especially needs to win the series to stay on pace with Clemson and Louisville. The Tigers lead the Atlantic Division with a 13-2 record, the best in the ACC while Cardinals are a game back at 13-3.

But Clemson (29-5) looks forward to the challenge. In fact, it enjoys playing at Dick Howser Stadium. Dating back to 2011, the Tigers have won six of the last nine meetings, including a sweep two years ago.

“Florida State is one of the best weekends in baseball the entire year,” designated hitter Reed Rohlman said. “I know the freshmen have never been there. I know a lot of us older guys have told them how much fun it is and how big of a series it is for us.”

Clemson comes into the three-game series riding a six-game winning streak including Tuesday’ 6-5 come-from-behind victory in 11 innings over Charleston Southern. The Tigers are 7-0 this year in one-run games.

In all, Clemson has rallied from behind eight times this year to gain victory.

“We could not be in a better spot right now, especially after a come-from-behind win,” Rohlman said. “It seems like we have been doing that a lot this year, but it never gets old to see how this team competes. We are in a great place for this weekend.”

The Tigers are also 8-1 on the road this season and 10-1 away from Doug Kingsmore Stadium, which is why they are looking forward to playing in front of hostile crowd this weekend.

“I think we look at it as a fun challenge,” first baseman Andrew Cox said. “I think we look at it a lot like Coach said, there will be a lot of people there rooting against us, but it is one of the best atmospheres in college baseball to play in and compete in.

“At the end of the day, it does not matter where you play or how you suit up. It is playing baseball. We’ve done it all year and we have done it in different places and we have had some success along the way so we will go down there and compete just like we do at home and we will try to find a way to win a couple of games.”

And Florida State will do whatever it can to prevent it.

“Florida State is one of the most well-coached teams in the country,” Lee said. “To beat Florida State, you have to execute pitches. You have to pound the strike zone. That is one of the best ballparks in the country where they are going to pack it out and are going to be loud. They’re rooting against the Tigers this weekend so it is going to be a pressure packed, high intensity series.”

However, Lee knows his team is more than capable of going to Tallahassee and winning the series.

“There are a lot of things stacked against us, but I would never bet against my club as competitive as they are,” he said. “I know this. They will be ready to play in Tallahassee this weekend. Our guys will be ready to compete. We have to play good baseball. We have to play clean baseball because the ‘Noles are very well-coached, they execute well and they have a great pitching staff and they have some hitters that can swing the bat.”

First pitch for Game 1 on Saturday is set for 6 p.m.