Story Poster
Monte Lee
Sam Weatherly
Clemson Baseball

Seth Beer's grand slam propels Clemson to victory over Furman

March 27, 2018
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GREENVILLE -- Seth Beer must really like Fluor Field.

So much so that when the bases are loaded and he is stepping up to the plate in Greenville, he always delivers.

Ten hits, a Beer grand slam, and a 6-run 4th inning propelled Clemson to a 10-5 win over in-state opponent Furman on Tuesday night.

Ten hits, a Beer grand slam, and a 6-run 4th inning propelled Clemson to a 10-5 win over in-state opponent Furman on Tuesday night.

This was Beer’s second grand slam at Fluor Field, the first coming a year ago against Michigan State, and his fifth while at Clemson.

Beer gave Clemson a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning after a single scored Logan Davidson from second. The All-American candidate came into the game hitting 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Tonight, he was back to his normal self, hitting 2-for-2 with five RBIs in that category.

“Seth Beer was Seth Beer tonight,” Monte Lee said after his 19th win of the season. “He was locked in tonight and swung the bat very, very well.”

Beer’s 3-for-3 hitting performance was what the Tigers needed if they were going to hang on and beat the Paladins, who scored five runs in two innings to cut Clemson’s lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the 6th.

“Seth Beer was Seth Beer tonight,” Monte Lee said after his 19th win of the season. “He was locked in tonight and swung the bat very, very well.”

Furman had the bases loaded with no outs and a chance to do some more damage in the 6th inning until Travis Marr came in to shut down any comeback efforts. Marr struck out Furman’s Crawford and then turned a 4-6-3 double play where Jordan Greene made a tremendous play to end the inning.

Of the 14 opposing runners Marr has inherited while pitching this season, only four have scored. Marr pitched two crucial innings to pick up the win for Clemson, only gave up one hit, and struck out three batters.

Marr-velous.

“He was the key to the game,” Lee said of Marr’s performance on the mound. “We needed somebody to come into the game to stop the bleeding. Marr gets a bases loaded strikeout and a 4-6-3 (double play) and I think that was the key for us in the ballgame.

After that, we were pretty dang good.”

In the next inning, Clemson got two runs right back with a 2-run Chris Williams home run, his sixth of the season, and Clemson cruised to victory from there.

While Williams and Beer’s respective performances were nothing new, freshman pitcher Sam Weatherly did something that hadn’t been done in a Clemson uniform since 2011.

Weatherly started the game on the mound for the Tigers and also got to hit as the designated hitter. The lefty showed off a cutter pitch he had been working on while pitching 4.1 innings of action. He gave up three hits, two runs, and struck out six batters.

“Our guys were locked in,” Lee said. “I felt like our guys set the tempo there with the first three at-bats in the game. After that, we were off and running.”

But Weatherly also did some damage at the plate, starting Clemson’s 2-out rally in the 4th inning. He stepped to the plate and ripped his first career hit to left field to score Patrick Cromwell from second base, which took Weatherly back to his high school days when he got to pitch and hit for himself.

“It didn’t come as a shock to me,” Weatherly said when asked what his reaction was to getting to start and hit. “I was excited and I was ready to take on the moment.”

Three batters later, Beer hit his grand slam and was greeted at home by Weatherly, one of his best friends on the team. The two sit next to each other on the team bus and always love to joke around at the ballpark with each other.

Beer was more excited about Weatherly’s moment than his 5-RBI game.

“It was good to see him hit… That kind of stuff fires us up,” Beer said. “The fact that he got his first hit and first RBI was a big deal for me. I’m real proud of him tonight.”

The Tigers moved to 19-6 after the victory over Furman. It was a quick turnaround for Lee and crew after coming home late Monday morning from its series win over Louisville. He was pleased with Clemson’s effort tonight and how his team got back to its winning ways in the midweek game.

“Our guys were locked in,” Lee said. “I felt like our guys set the tempo there with the first three at-bats in the game. After that, we were off and running.”

 
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