Clemson’s Tryston McCladdie Expected to Miss Multiple Weeks After Injury

The Clemson Tigers have been dealing with injuries all season, and unfortunately, they don’t seem to be slowing down.

During the team’s final contest of a three-game road series against Stanford this past weekend, infielder/outfielder Tryston McCladdie was hit in the face by a pitch. He remained in the game and finished with a hit and a run, but was out of the lineup for their final West Coast game against Santa Clara on Monday.

Before the Tigers’ win over the Broncos, head coach Erik Bakich announced on Clemson radio that the power-hitting infielder suffered several facial fractures but will not need surgery. Still, the junior was dressed in the dugout in support of his teammates during the contest, but he will miss a few weeks.

McCladdie’s absence left a bit of a puzzle to sort out, as he had already been serving as a fill-in himself.

With second baseman Jarren Purify sidelined after being diagnosed with a broken hand from a fastball, an injury expected to cost him extended time, McCladdie and junior Jay Dillard have been rotating in and out of the position. Before Purify went down, though, McCladdie had settled in as the primary center fielder after a rough early-season stretch at third base.

With both key infielders now out for a while, Dillard slid back over to second Monday, and Jason Fultz Jr. stepped in at third, a move that paid off extremely well for the Tigers. The true freshman hit a three-run homer to take a late-game 5-3 lead over Santa Clara, which ultimately led to a 6-4 win for Clemson in the two parties’ first-ever meeting.

JASON. FULTZ. JR.

WHAT A TIME TO HAVE YOUR FIRST CAREER HOME RUN!@Jfultz55 goes DEEP to left to give the Tigers the lead.

🚀 398 ft
💨 103 mph

T8 || CU 5, SCL 3
🖥 https://t.co/DTacpQcdf1 pic.twitter.com/iF2PIvQMNB
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) April 7, 2026

Defensively, questions linger with Fultz Jr. taking over, as the raw freshman owns the team’s worst fielding percentage at .840. However, McCladdie’s bat will be harder to replace by far.

The Harlem, Georgia native leads the team in batting average (.339), walks (19) and stolen bases (13-for-14). He’s also tied for first in hits (43), second in RBIs (35) and third in home runs (8) — all of that while posting just 20 strikeouts on the year, third-fewest among primary starters.

That kind of production and efficiency is hard to paper over, even if he does hold the worst fielding percentage among starters at .943.

Luckily, Fultz Jr. has looked pretty good at the plate throughout his 16 starts this year, as he’s batting .302 to go with 11 runs, seven RBIs and 12 walks in contrast to a minimal 10 strikeouts.