Despite jumping ahead with the early lead, No. 4 Clemson fell victim to the series sweep to sixth-ranked Florida State by a score of 3-2 Friday evening at McWhorter Stadium. It all came down to a two-run fifth inning where the Seminoles scored two runs off one hit to take the lead for good.

With the loss, Clemson is now 0-7 all-time against Florida State and succumbed to the series sweep for the second season in a row to the Seminoles.

“Obviously, heart hurts for our team, you know, they really came back and battled hard tonight against a very good Florida State team,” head coach John Rittman said following the loss. “We just didn’t get the timely hits when we needed them and their speed on the bases created some havoc for us and we had a few defensive miscues that cost us the game. …”

Clemson’s ace Valerie Cagle tallied the loss, her second of the series, while Florida State lefthander Makenna Reid earned the win and senior righthander Kathryn Sandercock tabbed the save, her fifth of the season.

Following Ally Miklesh’s clutch home run-robbing grab in the top half of the first inning, Clemson was the first to strike thanks to McKenzie Clark’s double that got things started for the Tigers in the bottom of the first. With a runner on second and one out, Cagle reached on the muffed grab at second base, scoring Clark in the process for the 1-0 lead after one.

Just one inning later, the Seminoles came up with their answer in the form of Katie Dack’s RBI single that scored Michaela Edenfield from third to tie things up 1-1 through two.

After a scoreless third inning for both ball clubs, the Tigers took the lead once again thanks to a Florida State fielding error, this time at catcher, to score pinch runner Julia Bomhardt from first base for the 2-1 lead.

Into the fifth, Florida State wasted no time in taking its first lead of the day, scoring two runs off one hit. With the bases loaded and no outs, second baseman Amaya Ross hit a sac fly out to right to score outfielder Kaley Mudge. Just one play later after a stellar play by the Tigers at home, Josie Muffley stole home for what would be the Seminoles’ third and final run of the game, sweeping the series in game three by a score of 3-2.

“I really talked to our team about dealing with adversity though and they don’t give out championships in April,” Rittman said. “This is the first time we’ve really faced a stretch of adversity this season and now it’s how are we going to respond. I know we’ve got a bunch of winners in that locker room that are going to come out and be ready to work hard next week in preparation for South Carolina. Obviously a very tough loss [with] two really good teams going at it tonight… we’ll be better for this.”

Next up, Clemson opens up a four-game road stint on Tuesday, April 11, with a midweek matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field in Columbia, S.C. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on SEC+.