Clemson Baseball; Tigers Sweep College of Charleston In Midweek Series

After a disappointing series loss to Notre Dame, Clemson looked to get back on track against the College of Charleston. The Tigers would do just that, sweeping two games from the Cougars in a somewhat rare midweek series. Clemson improves to 16-5 (3-2), while College of Charleston falls to 13-8.

Clemson took game one 13-1 Tuesday afternoon at The Doug, welcoming back starting pitcher Brooks Crawford, who had been out since March 1 nursing a bad back. Welcome him back they did, as the offense quickly gifted him 5 runs in the first inning, highlighted by Logan Davidson’s seventh homerun of the season, a two run shot to right.

Jordan Greene added a three run homer in the third to make it 8-1, giving Crawford and the pen plenty of cushion to work with. They would add a run in the fourth, and four more in the eighth that included a Matt Cooper two run pinch hit double.

Crawford looked great in 4.1 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 1, in picking up his first win of the year (1-1). Thanks to a rarely used rule, he was eligible for the win despite not pitching 5 innings. The rule states if both teams agree and it is specified by the team before the game starts that the starter will not go 5 innings, that pitcher can qualify for the win, with the official scorer having the disrection to make the decision. With a healthy Crawford back in the fold, this young pitching staff gets a boost by way of some senior leadership, and the coaches get a little flexibility in how they can manage the rotation going forward.

With a comfortable lead, Monte Lee was able to get some guys who haven’t seen the field very much, some valuable experience. Shelton Reed, Luke Sommerfield, and Andrew Coker combined to pitch the final 4.2 innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits.

Steven Cook (3-2) took the loss for CofC, after being roughed up for 5 runs on 4 hits, pitching to just seven hitters, and recording just one out. Dupree Hart had 2 of the Cougars 6 hits and stole 2 bases in the game.

Clemson took Game 2 on Wednesday night 4-1, in a game that took place at Segra Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies. Six Tiger pitchers combined to limit the Cougars to just one run on seven hits, striking out five and walking just a single batter.

Bryce Teodosio had an RBI single in the second to plate the games first run and Kyle Wilkie would knock in a second run on a fielders choice in the third, giving Clemson a 2-0 lead. CofC would cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of a leadoff walk. Bo Majkowski made it 3-1 on an RBI single in the sixth and Logan Davidson knocked in the games final run, with an RBI single in the ninth.

After not being able to bunt runners over in a critical juncture of the ninth inning in Sundays extra innings loss to Notre Dame, the Tigers executed two successful bunts to start the ninth. Teodosio bunted for a base hit, then Jordan Greene gave Clemson its first sacrifice bunt of the season, moving Teo over to second, and setting up the games final run.

Jackson Lindley got the start, going 3 innings and allowing a run on 3 hits, Travis Marr then came on and pitched 2 innings to pick up his first win of the season (1-0). Sam Weatherly, Owen Griffith, and Holt Jones each threw a scoreless inning, before Carson Spiers came on to pitch the ninth, notching his sixth save of the season.

Zach Williams took the loss for the Cougars, dropping to 0-2. Logan McRae and Clay Hunt each had 2 hits in a losing cause.

Clemson will now get ready to play their first road series of the season, as they head north to take on Boston College (11-9, 2-4), in what looks to be a chilly weekend in Chestnut Hill.