Clemson baseball continued its winning ways as the Tigers extended their winning streak to eight games with a 8-5 win over USC Upstate Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Clemson’s latest victory didn’t come as easy as its previous ones. Thanks to some late-innning heroics from Jonathan French, Clemson was able to secure a win Tuesday, despite a shaky effort from its bullpen.
French’s (2-for-4) first home run of the season was a big one. The sophmore designated hitter deposited a baseball into the Chapman grandstands in the bottom of the eighth inning. The go-ahead run traveled 368-feet and was 105-mph off the bat.
Dylan Brewer followed that up with an absolute moonshot to the right-field bleachers. The shophmore centerfielder added a couple of insurance runs with his first home run of the season.
Those three runs were the first Clemson scored since Caden Grice (1-for-4) added an RBI single in the home half of the second inning.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings. Clemson quickly tacked on four first-inning runs, capped off by Bryar Hawkins’ 3-run home run. The junior infielder took a 1-1 pitch over the right-field fence, extending Clemson’s lead to 4-0.
Hawkins went 2-for-5 and added three RBIs on the day, which culminated in his third home run of the season. In addition to Hawkins, Tyler Corbitt (2-for-4), Benjamin Ingle (2-for-5) and French were the only Tigers to have mutliple hits.
After maintaining a 5-0 lead, Clemson’s bullpen eventually gave way. The Tigers walked a fine line up until the eighth inning. Alex Edmonson gave up two runs, allowing the tying run to score. He gave up two runs on just one hit, but he also walked two batters in the process.
That seemed to be a common theme during Tuesday’s contest. The Tigers got themselves into trouble more often than not. Clemson’s bullpen issued four walks and allowed three runs.
That’s after Tuesday’s starting picther — Billy Barlow — turned in a relatively solid outing before getting into trouble in the top of the fifth inning.
Following multiple mound visits, Monte Lee came to get Barlow with one out and two runners in scoring position. He was relieved by freshman right-hander Jay Dill, who struck out the first batter he faced.
However, Dill surrendered a two-run single with both runs being charged to Tueday’s starter. Barlow struck out four batters and allowed two runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings pitched.
Dill was pulled in favor of Geoffrey Gilbert in the following inning.
After giving up a double, which went off the fists of USC Upstate pinch hitter Jace Reinhert, Gilbert issued back-to-back walks. Even though he walked in a run, Gilbert eventually found his command in time, striking out a batter and stranding the bases loaded.
Jackson Lindley stranded two runners, including the would-be tying run in the top of the seventh inning. The big right-hander from nearby Anderson struck out Spartans’ shortstop Cole Caruso to escaspe another jam unscathed.
After all that, Ryan Ammons pitched a clean ninth inning to earn the save.
This story will be updated
Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!
