Clemson Baseball Drops 2 of 3 to Georgia Tech

After a huge 12-0 Tuesday win over UGA, Clemson was looking to keep their dominance up over the Peach State with a weekend home series against the conference rival Georgia Tech. Clemson jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning off of 1 hit and 2 Jacket errors, but GT struck back by posting a run in the third, two in the fifth, three in the sixth, and one more in the seventh. However, behind 4 hits, Clemson was able to tie it up with a 5 run seventh. A dropped fly ball off the bat of Malik Gibson allowed Chris Williams to score, getting the rally going. Chris Okey ripped a big double to score 3 runs. Okey later went on to score off of Reed Rohlman's single. The Tigers and Jackets would stay knotted up until lightening strikes before the ninth inning forced the remainder of the game to be postponed until 4:00 the next day. After a scoreless ninth on Saturday, Eli White was able to deliver some extra inning magic by driving Rohlman home on a walk off single, giving Clemson the 8-7 win.

Georgia Tech was able to avenge the late inning loss in game two however. Starter Alex Eubanks was only able to manage 1 out while giving up 4 runs on 5 hits before being pulled in the bottom of the first. Jake Higginbotthom came in to give Clemson 3 innings, but he gave up 7 runs before being pulled in the fourth. Georgia rolled on to a 16-1 victory. Clemson pitching gave up 21 hits in the loss, and the Tigers committed 3 errors.

Sunday's game began much like Game 2 on Saturday evening. Starter Riley Gilliam let up 2 runs and 2 on with one out when he was pulled in the first inning for Clate Schmidt. Gilliam would be credited for the 2 other runs the Jackets would score in the inning. After getting out of the disastrous first inning, Schmidt went on to pitch for 7 innings, and only giving up 3 more runs. Clemson offense had trouble getting off the ground, but was able to pick up 3 runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Clemson entered the bottom of the ninth trailing trailing 7-3, but the Tigers weren't done yet. Micah Carpenter came on for the Jackets to pitch for freshman Burton Dulaney. Carpenter walked pinch hitter Robert Jolly and center fielder Chase Pinder to start the inning. Matthew Gorst came in to pitch for Carpenter. Adam Renwick pinched ran for Robert Jolly. Weston Wilson hit a sharp grounder to shortstop, and the only play was at first, putting 2 runners in scoring position with 1 out. Freshman phenom Seth Beer came in and ribbed a nice RBI single out to right center, scoring Renwick and putting Pinder on third. Chris Okey was then walked, loading the bases. Reed Rohlman then blazed one to the short stop, who was not able to make the play, scoring Pinder. Eli White then rips one down the middle that hit off of Gorst's back.  Gorst was able to retrieve the ball and toss it home before pinch runner KJ Bryant could score. This left DH Andrew Cox as the last hope for the Tigers with the bases loaded. On a 3-1 pitch, Cox chopped a grounder toward first base, allowing the Jackets to easily get the last out. The loss puts Clemson at 26-14 on the year, with a 9-12 ACC record. Georgia Tech will go to 27-13, holding a 10-10 ACC record. Clemson has lost it's last 3 conference series. The Tigers will be off during the week for final exams, and will host a 3 game series against ACC Atlantic Division leader Florida State. Game 1 will be Satruday at 6:30. Sunday the Tigers and Noles will square off at 4:00. The series will conclude Monday at 7:00 on ESPNU. Games 1 and 2 can be seen on Tiger Cast.