Ben Blackwell recorded 411 at-bats during his three seasons at Dayton. With just six of them ending in home runs, he was far from a power threat in the Flyers’ lineup.
Clemson’s new shortstop could’ve fooled his teammates, coaches and the 5,279 fans in attendance during the Tigers’ season opener Friday.
In the bottom of the second inning, Blackwell dug in for his first at-bat as a Tiger against Indiana right-hander John-Biagio Modugno, who figured he’d work ahead of Clemson’s nine-hole hitter with a get-me-over fastball. Blackwell – all 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds of him – had other ideas.
He uncoiled on Modugno’s first offering, depositing it halfway up the left-field seats more than 400 feet away from home plate. It was the only long ball hit in Clemson’s 9-0 win.
“Great environment,” Blackwell said afterward. “Absolutely loved the opportunity.”
Blackwell credited Clemson coach Monte Lee and the rest of the Tigers’ coaching staff as much as himself for the home run with the scouting work they did in preparation for the game. Clemson knew Modugno favored a sinker that naturally ran inside to right-handed hitters, so Blackwell said the plan going in was to look for it on the inner third of the plate. Sure enough, Modugno threw that pitch but left it up in the strike zone, and Blackwell didn’t miss it.
“We talked a little bit about it,” Lee said. “Their starter has a sinking fastball, a fastball that had some arm-side run and was running in on right-handed hitters. And (Blackwell) did a really good job of being on time and jumping on that sinker that was running in, turned on it and smoked it. It was good to see that.”
It was quite the first impression during a day that came up roses for Blackwell even when things didn’t always go exactly as planned. Blackwell got just two at-bats because he laid down a safety squeeze in the fourth inning. He bunted the ball directly back to Modugno as Jonathan French broke from third base, but Modugno fell down as he tried to field it, allowing French to score without a throw.
“He had one heck of a day. Even executed the safety squeeze to perfection,” Lee said with a grin. “Thank God the guy’s feet flipped out from under him.”
Blackwell isn’t exactly filling small shoes with his new team. All-ACC shortstop James Parker left Clemson two years early after the Seattle Mariners made him the Tigers’ highest-drafted player last summer. Parker was Clemson’s leading hitter a season ago with a .324 average.
While Lee praised Blackwell’s defense during the preseason, whether or not he can be a consistent offensive threat against ACC pitching remains to be seen, though he hit .349 in 51 games for Dayton last season. It’s the highest clip of his career so far.
But what made Friday’s performance even more special for Blackwell is the fact that he did it at what he called a “dream school” for him. The Fairfax, Virginia, native has family in the area, but Blackwell said it was more than that that sold him on Lee’s program being the one with which he wanted to finish his collegiate career.
“Honestly, the family here, the fan base and the school itself is just incredible,” Blackwell said. “I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity, but also getting to play under coaches like Coach Lee and working with (assistant coach Bradley) LeCroy every single day is just unbelievable. You couldn’t ask for better coaches ad better people to learn from each and every day.”
Blackwell also couldn’t have asked for a much better start to his time at Clemson.
“Honestly, just enjoying every moment,” he said. “I’m happy (my first at-bat) happened the way it did.”
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