Montee Lee – Syndication Server

Wagner in midst of ‘unreal’ tear for Clemson baseball

It was suggested to Blake Wright following Clemson’s win over Florida State on Sunday that the Tigers’ second baseman – and No. 3-hole hitter – might currently have the best spot in the lineup. He didn’t disagree. “Having Cooper (Ingle) in front of …

He didn’t disagree.

“Having Cooper (Ingle) in front of me and Max (Wagner) behind me is special because you know someone’s going to come through,” Wright said.

It would be hard to find anyone in college baseball that’s done that more the last couple of weeks than Wagner.

There are hot streaks, and then there’s whatever Clemson’s power-hitting third baseman is on. In the Tigers’ last six games, Wagner is batting .434 (10 of 23) with seven home runs and 15 RBIs. His slugging percentage over that span is north of 1.550 while his OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is hovering around 2.000.

Wagner has belted five of those homers in Clemson’s last four ACC games. The tear started with a three-run shot in the series-clinching finale at Wake Forest and included a pair of long balls in each of the Tigers’ first two games against Florida State last weekend.

One of those was a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of Friday’s series opener, putting Clemson on its way to a 6-4 win.

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Wagner said.

The Tigers’ cleanup hitter drove in two of the team’s three runs with a pair of solo homers in Clemson’s one-run loss Saturday, bringing his home-run total for the season to 17. Wagner nearly had another one in his first-at bat of Sunday’s series finale when he tagged a laser off the wall to the opposite field in the second inning. He settled for a double.

“He’s been unreal for us,” Clemson coach Monte Lee said. “He’s killing it right now. He’s maybe the best player in our league right now. He plays great defensively, and he’s swinging the bat exceptionally well. He’s stepped up for us big-time. Hitting the ball to all fields. He’s a phenomenal player.”

His recent performances earned him not only ACC Player of the Week honors but also a national player of the week nod from Collegiate Baseball. Wagner is third in the ACC in home runs and leads the league in slugging percentage (.851) all while maintaining a .366 average, tied for 10th in the conference. He also ranks in the top 10 in RBIs (47) and on-base percentage (.494).

Wagner said he can’t remember being on a streak quite this sizzling at any point during his career. As for what’s led to it, Wagner said he’s tried to keep his approach simple.

“Just trying to hit the ball hard and swing at strikes,” Wagner said. “I’ve been doing that and just trying to follow along with that. The production has been there but just keep working on it and try to get this team a win.”

Clemson (26-14, 6-11 ACC) has done that seven times in its last nine games as it tries to stay in contention for a spot in next month’s ACC Tournament. A series at Louisville awaits this weekend, but Wagner and the rest of the Tigers will first look to keep their momentum going tonight against Presbyterian at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

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Clemson responds with bounce-back win over Winthrop

Behind a five-run second inning and a stellar start from Ricky Williams, No. 20 Clemson cruised to a 10-2 victory over Winthrop at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Wednesday night. After Tuesday’s 16-7 loss to Coastal Carolina, Clemson manager Monte Lee …

Behind a five-run second inning and a stellar start from Ricky Williams, No. 20 Clemson cruised to a 10-2 victory over Winthrop at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Wednesday night.

After Tuesday’s 16-7 loss to Coastal Carolina, Clemson manager Monte Lee told The Clemson Insider that he wanted to see how his team would respond. The Tigers responded by pounding out 12 hits en route to a bounce-back win, which was delayed by 54 minutes due to lightning in the area.

While Clemson’s bats woke up Wednesday, it was able to do so behind the pitching of Williams.

The sophomore right-hander, who hails from Lexington (S.C.) made his second-career start on Wednesday and pitched an absolute gem. After navigating through a shaky first inning, which culminated in Clemson shortstop Benjamin Blackwell gunning down a runner at the plate, Williams (1-0) settled in.

In five innings, Williams tallied three strikeouts and allowed just two hits. He was pulled in favor of Rocco Reid after throwing 67 pitches on the evening.

Reid and Ty Olenchuk both pitched clean innings out of the pen, while Geoffrey Gilbert surrendered a two-run home run. In a non-save chance, Ryan Ammons entered in the top of the ninth and shut the door on Winthrop.

Prior to the lightning delay, all nine of Clemson’s batters reached base safely. All of Clemson’s starters also recorded a hit.

After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, the Tigers couldn’t afford to do the same in the home half of the second. With the bases juiced, Tyler Corbitt (3-for-4) laced a ball right into the hole between third base and shortstop, scoring two runs.

Cooper Ingle, who is now hitting .405 on the season, followed up Corbitt’s two-run single with a two-run double of his own. Ingle’s 21st and 22nd RBIs of the season were aided by the ball hitting off the first base bag. He finished Wednesday’s contest with a hit, four walks and two RBIs in five plate appearances.

Clemson again loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, but just one run came to pass on a Dylan Brewer (1-for-5) RBI groundout. The Tigers would load the bases again in the bottom of the seventh after the 54-minute delay.

Prior to the delay, first baseman Bryar Hawkins (1-for-3) was the lone Clemson starter without a hit. That changed when he roped a single past a diving Winthrop second baseman Joey Tepper, scoring two runs.

Blackwell (1-for-4) added an RBI single, while Max Wagner (1-for-4) recorded an RBI on a fielder’s choice.

Clemson fared 1-1 during its mid-week homestand and will travel for its second conference series of the season against Pitt this weekend.

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Clemson commitment still ‘hasn’t really set in’ for local product

Clemson has added its fair share of local products to its 2023 recruiting class. That includes Cayce (S.C.) Brookland Cayce High School’s Ty Marshall, who offered his verbal pledge to Clemson’s baseball program back on Oct. 6, 2020. The …

Clemson has added its fair share of local products to its 2023 recruiting class.

That includes Cayce (S.C.) Brookland Cayce High School’s Ty Marshall, who offered his verbal pledge to Clemson’s baseball program back on Oct. 6, 2020.

The switch-hitting catcher is a vocal leader, who prides himself on his ability to work with his pitchers. He’s already been in contact with pitchers in his recruiting class as he looks to formulate those relationships before he arrives in Clemson, which isn’t for another two or so years.

“I feel like I have the best relationship with every pitcher that I have than any other guy in the nation,” he told The Clemson Insider. “I just feel like a catcher-pitcher relationship is different than any other relationship on the field and I just want that to be the best relationship I have with every guy at Clemson.”

That’s the type of player the Tigers are getting in Marshall.

“Something big for me was I wanted to go to school at Clemson for a really long time,” he said. “Me and my family have been lifelong Clemson fans. We’ve been going to football games since I can remember. Coach Lee makes it seem like a family program and it really is. It’s not all about baseball for him.”

Marshall’s developed a “pretty good” relationship with Lee for over a year now.

“Me and him have really good conversations and a big thing for him is grades and that’s something we usually talk about,” Marshall added. “That’s big for me and my family too because my family believes in always having a backup plan.”

As for assistant coach Bradley LeCroy, Marshall has just started talking to him consistently as they start carving out a connection with one another.

“I just really like these guys,” Marshall said of Clemson’s coaching staff. “They take pride in what they do.”

Marshall hopes that he’s coming to Tiger Town to play behind the dish, but he’s willing to play wherever Lee or his team needs him to.

“I would say I feel like I’m a big leader,” he said when asked to describe himself as a player. “I’m a catcher, so everyone says the quarterback of the field, which I take pride in. I want to be the guy that people come to when things go left. I feel like I’m a really good teammate. I feel like I’m best friends with everyone on the field, which is big for me. I always like to have good connections with everyone out on the field.”

While Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class isn’t complete just yet, it’s certainly starting to take shape. Marshall described the group as a bunch of “high-energy guys.”

“We already have a really good class, like a really good class,” he said. “We’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna compete and I feel like we have a really good chance of helping out the team.”

Being a lifelong Clemson fan, Marshall still has to pinch himself at the thought of playing for his boyhood team.

“It’s really big for me,” Marshall said. “I still say it hasn’t really set in for me, but I still have to work to get there and once I get there, I’m gonna do everything I can to keep it.”

However, before he gets to Clemson, there’s a few parts of Marshall’s game that he wants to polish. He knows that he needs to mature at certain aspects of his game, like situational hitting and just working at becoming a better teammate every day.

As a switch hitter, he also wants to become a more consistent player from both sides of the plate.

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