Give Clemson credit for one thing Friday night. This wasn’t Thursday. No. 8 Clemson actually showed up to play in Game 2, outhitting No. 4 Georgia Tech 9-8 and keeping the score at 4-2 through six innings at Doug Kingsmore. But the home run ball got them again, a pair of errors gifted Georgia Tech two of its biggest innings, and the Yellow Jackets pulled away for a 9-3 win that clinches the series. Clemson falls to 15-4 and 0-2 in ACC play.
A night after getting run-ruled 10-0 in the series opener, the Tigers had nine hits, put runners on base in nearly every inning, and got a monster game from Nate Savoie. None of it mattered. Because when Georgia Tech had runners on, they cashed in. When Clemson had runners on, they didn’t. Five-for-10 with runners in scoring position for the Jackets. Zero-for-5 for the Tigers. That’s your ball game right there.
Second inning told you what kind of night it was going to be. Vahn Lackey, same guy who homered in Game 1, sent Sharman’s first pitch to left field. Solo shot. 1-0. Then Jay Dillard booted a ball at third base that put Zuckerman on, Baker walked behind him, and Parker Brosius ripped a double to left center that scored both. One of those runs was unearned. Should’ve been a one-run inning, tops. Instead it was three.
Jacob Jarrell answered with a solo shot to left in the bottom half. His seventh of the year. And Savoie went deep down the right field line in the fourth to cut it to 4-2. So through six, you’re sitting there thinking this team has a real chance to get back in it. The lineup was making contact. Austin Sharman was grinding through innings and keeping balls on the ground. Two runs down with nine outs to play.
Then the seventh happened. Lichtenberger bobbled a grounder at short and suddenly Hernandez was on to lead off the inning. Walk. Single. Bases loaded. Kent Schmidt, who’d done nothing all night, got an 0-2 pitch he could handle and crushed it to right center for a grand slam. 8-2. Just like that.
Here’s the thing about this series. Georgia Tech has five home runs in two games at Doug Kingsmore. Clemson has three. But every Tiger homer came solo, bases empty, nobody on. Every Georgia Tech homer that actually broke the game open came with runners already on base. That’s the difference, and it’s not a small one.
Savoie went 3-for-4 with two homers, two RBI, and nine total bases. Put him on both all-series teams if those existed. His shot to center off Gaudette in the eighth, down 9-2 at that point, was the kind of at-bat that tells you a lot about a player. Seven home runs on the year now for the catcher. He was the only guy in the lineup who looked like he had a plan every single time he walked to the plate.
Sharman’s final line reads worse than he pitched. 5.2 innings, five hits, four runs, but only three earned. That Dillard error in the second put two extra runners on his tab. He generated nine groundouts in his outing and kept Clemson in the game long enough to have a chance. The bullpen is where it went sideways. Simmerson got through the sixth fine but couldn’t finish the seventh, putting runners on with a walk before handing things off to Allen. Allen inherited two of them and both came around on the Schmidt grand slam. Four earned runs between those two guys in 2.0 innings of work. Veasey cleaned it up with 1.1 scoreless and two punchouts, which is at least something to feel decent about heading into Saturday.
And then there was the baserunning. Both Jarren Purify and Tryston McCladdie got picked off in the first inning. First inning. Two outs Clemson just gave away for nothing. McCladdie went 1-for-5 on the night with six guys left on base. Eight stranded total as a team. You can’t do that against the No. 4 team in the country. Georgia Tech played clean all night. No errors. Six walks drawn. Two double plays turned. That’s the gap.
The series is done. Three straight losses now, going back to the 6-1 loss to Georgia Southern earlier in the week, and Clemson is staring down a sweep at home in the first conference series of the year. Game 3 is Saturday at 3 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. Avoiding the sweep won’t fix starting 0-2 in ACC play, but it matters. Friday showed Clemson can play with this team. Nine hits, three homers, a 4-2 game into the seventh. The talent is there. The margin for error against a lineup this good just isn’t. Saturday is about proving the last two days aren’t who this team is.
Home Run Ball Beats Clemson Again as No. 4 Georgia Tech Takes Game 2, 9-3
CLEMSON, S.C. – Give Clemson credit for one thing Friday night. This wasn’t Thursday. No. 8 Clemson actually showed up to play in Game 2, outhitting No. 4 Georgia Tech 9-8 and keeping the score at 4-2 through six innings at Doug Kingsmore. But the home run ball got them again, a pair of errors gifted Georgia Tech two of its biggest innings, and the Yellow Jackets pulled away for a 9-3 win that clinches the series. Clemson falls to 15-4 and 0-2 in ACC play.
A night after getting run-ruled 10-0 in the series opener, the Tigers had nine hits, put runners on base in nearly every inning, and got a monster game from Nate Savoie. None of it mattered. Because when Georgia Tech had runners on, they cashed in. When Clemson had runners on, they didn’t. Five-for-10 with runners in scoring position for the Jackets. Zero-for-5 for the Tigers. That’s your ball game right there.
Second inning told you what kind of night it was going to be. Vahn Lackey, same guy who homered in Game 1, sent Sharman’s first pitch to left field. Solo shot. 1-0. Then Jay Dillard booted a ball at third base that put Zuckerman on, Baker walked behind him, and Parker Brosius ripped a double to left center that scored both. One of those runs was unearned. Should’ve been a one-run inning, tops. Instead it was three.
Jacob Jarrell answered with a solo shot to left in the bottom half. His seventh of the year. And Savoie went deep down the right field line in the fourth to cut it to 4-2. So through six, you’re sitting there thinking this team has a real chance to get back in it. The lineup was making contact. Austin Sharman was grinding through innings and keeping balls on the ground. Two runs down with nine outs to play.
Then the seventh happened. Lichtenberger bobbled a grounder at short and suddenly Hernandez was on to lead off the inning. Walk. Single. Bases loaded. Kent Schmidt, who’d done nothing all night, got an 0-2 pitch he could handle and crushed it to right center for a grand slam. 8-2. Just like that.
Here’s the thing about this series. Georgia Tech has five home runs in two games at Doug Kingsmore. Clemson has three. But every Tiger homer came solo, bases empty, nobody on. Every Georgia Tech homer that actually broke the game open came with runners already on base. That’s the difference, and it’s not a small one.
Savoie went 3-for-4 with two homers, two RBI, and nine total bases. Put him on both all-series teams if those existed. His shot to center off Gaudette in the eighth, down 9-2 at that point, was the kind of at-bat that tells you a lot about a player. Seven home runs on the year now for the catcher. He was the only guy in the lineup who looked like he had a plan every single time he walked to the plate.
Sharman’s final line reads worse than he pitched. 5.2 innings, five hits, four runs, but only three earned. That Dillard error in the second put two extra runners on his tab. He generated nine groundouts in his outing and kept Clemson in the game long enough to have a chance. The bullpen is where it went sideways. Simmerson got through the sixth fine but couldn’t finish the seventh, putting runners on with a walk before handing things off to Allen. Allen inherited two of them and both came around on the Schmidt grand slam. Four earned runs between those two guys in 2.0 innings of work. Veasey cleaned it up with 1.1 scoreless and two punchouts, which is at least something to feel decent about heading into Saturday.
And then there was the baserunning. Both Jarren Purify and Tryston McCladdie got picked off in the first inning. First inning. Two outs Clemson just gave away for nothing. McCladdie went 1-for-5 on the night with six guys left on base. Eight stranded total as a team. You can’t do that against the No. 4 team in the country. Georgia Tech played clean all night. No errors. Six walks drawn. Two double plays turned. That’s the gap.
The series is done. Three straight losses now, going back to the 6-1 loss to Georgia Southern earlier in the week, and Clemson is staring down a sweep at home in the first conference series of the year. Game 3 is Saturday at 3 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. Avoiding the sweep won’t fix starting 0-2 in ACC play, but it matters. Friday showed Clemson can play with this team. Nine hits, three homers, a 4-2 game into the seventh. The talent is there. The margin for error against a lineup this good just isn’t. Saturday is about proving the last two days aren’t who this team is.
