Clemson Opens Season With Stellar Pitching Performance
CLEMSON - Much of Clemson's focus during the offseason was pitching.
A game into the season, head coach Monte Lee got the kind of start to the year he was looking for. Davis Sharpe pitched five scoreless innings and the team allowed just two hits while totaling 10 hits offensively in a 5-0 victory Friday over Cincinnati on Opening Day at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
"Overall, great opening day," Lee said. "Plenty of things to improve on and work on but very pleased with how we played today."
Clemson (1-0) hit its first home run of the season when catcher Jonathan French went deep in the seventh inning with a three-run shot to give the Tigers plenty of insurance after they scored their first run in the fifth in the first game in 345 days because of the pandemic.
"The thing that I was most pleased with was how competitive our at-bats were with two strikes," Lee said. "We were in the plus two-column, walk and HBP to strike out, which is a big one for us we want to win that free 90 battle. And we had a bunch of them today did a great job of staying in the strike zone."
Highly-regarded freshman Caden Grice recorded the first two hits of his career at the plate and drove in a run in the seventh that put the Tigers up 5-0.
Dylan Brewer's one-out RBI single up the middle in the fifth inning scored Bryce Teodosio, who reached first on a single to left, second on a stolen base and third on a flyout, for all the offense Clemson would end up needing.
Teodosio led the Tigers at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance while James Parker, who took a pitch off his left arm in the fifth, added two more hits.
"It's the first game of the season. We expect there to be some mistakes and we got to do a good job of addressing it tomorrow in pregame and getting better and those aspects of the game," Lee said. "But every guy in the lineup had quality at-bats and just really, really proud of the way that we played and we played a great game defensively as well no errors."
Player of the game: While pitchers are usually ahead of batters early in the season, especially against a team from colder climates like the Bearcats, Sharpe was especially sharp Friday. He recorded nine strikeouts, including retiring the side in the fourth via all Ks, while allowing just one walk. The only hit he gave up was a single to Ryan Nicholson in the first inning, and after a third-inning walk, Sharpe retired his last 10 batters faced.
"He pitched like a true ace," Lee said. "He was absolutely dominant."
Stat of the game: Clemson pitcher Mat Clark struck out six of the 13 batters he faced in four innings of relief.
Injury report: Catcher and team captain Adam Hackenburg, second baseman/outfielder Sam Hall, outfielder Kier Meredith, first baseman Chad Fairey, catcher/infielder Cooper Ingle and pitcher Keyshawn Askew were all out Friday with injuries.
Up next: Clemson takes on Cincinnati in the second game of the season-opening series Saturday at 3 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Coming Saturday from All Clemson: A look at how different Opening Day was for Clemson's players, coaches and fans in the first game of the COVID-19 pandemic.