Tryston McCladdie went 0-for-4 Thursday night. Struck out swinging twice. Couldn’t get the barrel on anything while Clemson stranded 12 runners and lost in extras. Saturday he showed up looking like a completely different hitter. Three-for-4, two homers, three RBI, ten total bases, and the go-ahead shot in the seventh that gave Clemson a 7-6 win and evened the series at Doug Kingsmore.
Nate Savoie set the tone early. Jack Crighton singled up the middle to lead off the first, and Savoie jumped on a 2-1 pitch from Rob Evans and hammered it to left. Two-run shot. Just like that, 2-1 Clemson. After going hitless Thursday, Savoie needed that swing. You could tell by the way he watched it leave.
McCladdie doubled to right center later that inning. Already locked in.
Michael Sharman started on the mound and gave Clemson four innings with six strikeouts, but the fourth got away from him. Alex Sosa doubled, Derek Williams walked on four straight, and then Alonzo Alvarez ripped a double to right center that scored Sosa. Vance Sheahan singled through the left side to bring home Williams, and Dylan Dubovik reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Alvarez after Jay Dillard’s throw from second sailed wide. Three runs on three hits and a throwing error. Miami 4, Clemson 2, and the crowd got real quiet for a minute.
Clemson punched back in the bottom half. Dillard reached when Brylan West dropped a fly ball at second. Ty Dalley singled through the left side. Luke Gaffney battled through a 3-2 count and lined one to left to score Dillard. Tyler Lichtenberger bunted the runners over, and Bryce Clavon lifted a sac fly to center that scored Dalley. Tied at four. The answer took about twelve minutes.
Fifth inning. Jacob Jarrell walked. McCladdie turned on the first pitch and drove it to left center.
Gone.
Two-run homer. Clemson 6, Miami 4. The dugout came alive. McCladdie rounded the bases like he knew it was out the second he hit it, because it was.
Miami came back in the seventh. Dubovik singled off Danny Nelson, Fabio Peralta doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third, and Jake Ogden grounded to short to score Dubovik on the RBI groundout. Sosa doubled to right center to score Peralta. Tied at six. You’ve seen this script before with this team. Build a lead, watch it evaporate, and scramble.
Bottom of the seventh. Nate Savoie lined out. Jacob Jarrell grounded out to short. Two down. Nobody on.
McCladdie swung on the first pitch from TJ Coats. Left field. Gone again. 7-6 Clemson. Two outs, nobody on base, first pitch, ballgame. That’s not luck. That’s a hitter who showed up Saturday with something to prove and proved it three times.
Eston Simpson had already given Clemson two clean innings after Sharman left. Nelson worked two frames and gave up the two runs in the seventh but kept it manageable. And Justin LeGuernic slammed the door in the ninth. Jackson Hugus struck out looking. Ogden flew out to right. Daniel Cuvet popped up to short. Three up, three down. Done.
Clemson moves to 19-9 and heads to Sunday’s rubber match with Miami with some life. McCladdie’s 10-total-base night is exactly what this lineup needed after two weeks of leaving runners on base and losing close games. One performance doesn’t fix a slump. But it can start one.
