The Tigers defeated Georgia Southern in the midweek contest, winning 10-8. With the victory, the Tigers improve to 27-5 (6-3) while Georgia Southern drops to 17-11 (5-4).
Clemson blew the game open in the eighth inning, when Josh Paino unleashed a base-clearing 3-run triple to extend the Tigers’ lead to 5 runs.
Clemson got off to an early lead, as the Georgia Southern pitching struggled to find the zone. Their starter threw just ⅔ of an inning, while walking four Clemson batters. The reliever walked another in the frame, allowing 2 runs to the Tigers in the first though they tallied no hits.
Clemson was able to tack on another run in the third, when Trystan McCladdie drove in Jack Crighton with a single to the right side.
The Tigers also added a pair of runs in the sixth with an RBI groundout from Luke Gaffney and a run-scoring single from Collin Priest.
Talan Bell made his second start of his young career, pitching 3 strong innings while allowing 0 runs, bringing his earned run average to 2.25. In his 3 innings of work he allowed 2 hits while striking out 1 and walking 1.
Though Clemson pitching allowed a multitude of baserunners, they were able to barely escape a variety of jams, allowing minimal damage along the way.
Locked in a close game, Tigers reliever Reed Garris was able to get them out of a jam and end the Eagles last threat in the sixth. The righty entered the 6-4 game with the bases loaded and only one out, before forcing the first batter he faced to ground into an inning ending double play.
Garris turned in the best outing out of the bullpen, throwing 1 ⅔ innings allowing no hits and walking just one. He was able to strike out 3 over the course of his outing.
Though the Eagles got on the board in the fourth, the bullpen also escaped another scoring opportunity with little damage. Georgia Southern second baseman Luke Odden scorched a two-out, bases-loaded single off the second base bag, scoring 2, at the time making it a 1-run ballgame.
However, Clemson reliever Joe Allen entered and ended the inning. Though he allowed a single, Crighton gunned down the runner attempting to score from second base.
Clemson will head to the west coast this weekend, as they conduct a three-game weekend series against California. This will be the Tigers’ third ACC series of the season.
