Don’t Look Now, but Here Comes Clemson, Again
CLEMSON, S.C. — Just when you thought it was time to write them off, the Clemson Tigers baseball team came right back.
After being swept by Louisville one week ago, the Tigers responded by sweeping No. 21 Georgia Tech a week later. Clemson completed the three-game sweep with an impressive 14-2 victory Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The Tigers (31-17, 9-14 ACC) got five home runs from five different people and got 4 2/3 scoreless innings from starter Billy Barlow.
“It was a huge weekend for us, but it was a huge game for us,” Clemson head coach Monte Lee said afterward. “I am not trying to look too much into series wins and I shared the same thing to the team (Saturday). We won the series, but it is not about winning the series right now, quite honestly. It is about winning every game because we are trying to do everything we can to extend our season.
“We all know the position that we are in, and we just have to continue to fight like crazy to win every game and put ourselves in position to get to the ACC Tournament.”
Clemson is in a battle to get to the ACC Tournament, which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina later this month. The Tigers are currently ranked 12th in the conference standings, based off win percentage.
The Tigers have a .391-win percentage in ACC action, while Duke, who is No. 13, has a .375-win percentage against conference foes. The Blue Devils host NC State and travel to Virginia Tech in their final two conference series.
Clemson closes out the ACC year with a three-game series at Virginia next week and then host Boston College on the weekend of May 20. The Tigers have never missed playing in an ACC Baseball Tournament, which began in 1976.
“We feel like we are in a playoff every game,” Lee said. “I told the team that and I am not going to shy away from it. We are going to have to show up and bring everything we can, every game in order to win every game to keep playing past two weeks from now.”
The Tigers definitely did that this weekend. They outscored the Yellow Jackets, who came into the series second in the ACC in runs scored and third in hitting, 35-14 in the three-game series.
In all three games, Clemson jumped to first inning leads and never looked back.
“We play good baseball, we attacked their starters early and scored runs the first time through the order, especially right there in the first inning,” Lee said. “If we score first and we save the first, quite honestly, it is really that simple.
“When you look at our games, when our starting pitcher goes out there, the save is in the first inning. When we leave the first inning with no runs given up and we score first, we win a lot of games. I think that is the key for us. We have to get off to a great start.”
The Tigers outscored Georgia Tech a combined 8-0 in the first inning over the three-game series. They also built leads of 5-0 by the fourth inning in all three games this weekend.
“Every game is a playoff right now,” left fielder Camden Troyer said. “We are fighting for the rest of our season and the whole team is really buying into that.”
Up Next. Clemson steps out of conference play on Tuesday, as it heads down to Columbia, South Carolina to take on the College of Charleston at Segra Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
Odds: The Tigers' odds of winning the College World Series are currently +20000, according to FanDuel.