No. 7 Clemson Baseball riding nine-game win streak into last series of regular season
After an avalanche of wins for this Clemson Tiger baseball team, they were rewarded with a massive jump in the rankings from No. 16 to No. 7 in the country. They leaped over 3 other Carolina programs in one fell swoop with rivals South Carolina, Coastal Carolina, and East Carolina all looking up at the Tigers now. They also jumped fellow conference opponents in Duke and Miami to stand behind only Wake Forest as the best team in the ACC.
With that boost, going into Tuesday's game against South Carolina Upstate, they looked to avoid a letdown and avoid ending the 8 game-winning streak they took into the matchup.
(Clemson Athletics)
The game ended in a run-rule shortened 8 innings with a final score of 12-2. Clemson scored multiple runs in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th innings to finish the game in an impressive offensive showing led by Billy Amick's 5 RBI night, 4 of which came with 2 outs.
Coach Erik Bakich told reporters after the game, "This could have very easily been a trap game or a letdown game, however, you want to say it with the rain delay and obviously looking ahead. A credit to our team for not looking ahead. They looked at this game as the most important game on our schedule because it was the one happening today."
Clemson will now finish their regular season with a series against a 33-18 North Carolina squad that has been playing good ball themselves lately after sweeping North Carolina State in their last conference series. The last 2 months have been an incredible turnaround for Coach Bakich and his players but how you go into the postseason can really set the tone for the rest of the way.