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WATCH: Clemson Baseball Walks it Off against Winthrop

A 9th inning 3-run blast gave the Tigers a much needed win, as Clemson topped Winthrop.
Ryan Akin|
WATCH: Clemson Baseball Walks it Off against Winthrop
WATCH: Clemson Baseball Walks it Off against Winthrop

After a frustrating opening ACC series against Duke, where most Clemson players felt they were closer to winning with a sweep than losing the series outright, the Tigers needed a bounce-back performance against a struggling Winthrop team. The outcome was undecided until the very last at-bat as neither team could grab hold of the momentum for very long. 

Clemson's early 1-0 lead after the first inning was quickly squandered by giving up 3 in the second. The Tigers then responded with an RBI single from Will Taylor and an RBI groundout from Cooper Ingle, who also extended his hitting streak to 15 games, to tie it up in the third. A back-and-forth affair is putting it lightly in this one.

Clemson finally regained the lead with a Caden Grice 5th inning bomb to left center that scored 2, but that lead, playing true to form in this one, wasn't to last for long. Winthrop responded with 2 to tie it back up in their very next at-bat. Following that, the bullpens for both teams finally started to calm things down. The first extended scoreless stretch in the game came from the bottom of the 6th inning all the way until Cam Cannarella stepped up in the bottom of the 9th. 

With 2 on and nobody out Coach Bakich later said he didn't want to bunt and take the bat out of his centerfielder's hands. So, on a 1-0 count Cam swings away and launches one to dead center that cleared the wall and sent all Tigers fans home happy. The freshman hit his second career home run and it couldn't have come at a better time. Cannerella later told reporters "I didn't think it was gone so let me at least get two out the box and let Cooper walk it off, but it went over." When asked if it was the longest homerun he'd ever hit, Cam, with a smile, said "Probably." Talk about strength in the biggest moments.

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Ryan Akin
RYAN AKIN

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