Clemson baseball drops 2 of first 3 against Wright State

When your head coach is apologizing to fans during his Sunday press conference, chances are the series didn’t go too well. This was the case with the Clemson baseball team, as the Tigers dropped 2 out of 3 opening weekend games to the Wright State Raiders out of the Horizon League. Monte Lee apologized to Tiger fans stating “It all begins with me” during Sunday’s post game press conference. The series loss drops Clemson from #10 to #15 in Baseball America’s top 25 rankings, with Wright State moving from unranked to #25.

Friday’s Opening Day contests begin fairly well for the Tigers. Clemson had a 2-0 lead before Wright State tied it up. Then in the 7th inning, Gabe Snyder of Wright State lifted a 2 run double to give the Raiders a 6-3 lead. Clemson would add one run in the bottom of the seventh when Logan Davidson scored on a wild pitch, but that was all the Tigers could manufacture, giving the Raiders the 6-4 win.

Game 2 went much better, as Pat Krall tossed 6.0 innings and gave up 2 hits as Clemson would get a 6-2 win. Seth Beer got things going for Clemson in the 3rd inning with a 3 run homer that put the Tigers up 4-0. Clemson would also pick up a pair of insurance runs in the 7th.

Sunday was just an abysmal day for the Tigers, however. The Raiders used some great base running and got a big 2 run homer from 3rd baseman Seth Gray to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd. Wright State would go on to roll to a 9-2 win in a game that saw Clemson use 7 pitchers. Starter Alex Eubanks pitched 4.1 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs. The Tigers scored off a 4th inning Seth Beer homer and a 9th inning Logan Davidson homer.

Clemson looks to regroup quickly as they host the Western Carolina Catamounts Wednesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch is at 4:00 and the video of the game can be streamed via ACC Network Extra. The Tigers will then begin a 3 game weekend series with the Elon Phoenix in Doug Kingsmore Stadium beginning Friday at 4:00. All 3 games of that series are also available on ACC Network Extra. Interestingly enough, Wright State will head down to Columbia for a 3 game tilt with South Carolina this weekend. It will definitely be interesting to see how they perform against the Gamecocks. That series begins Friday at 4:00, and the games can be streamed via SEC Network +.