Good fun on Good Friday: Tigers cruise to 9-4 victory over Boston College, win series
CLEMSON – Clemson rode its momentum from its game one win over Boston College with four runs in the 1st inning.
From there, Saturday’s game at Doug Kingsmore Stadium was nothing but good fun on Good Friday.
- Kyle Wilkie
The Tigers, who steadily beat Boston College 9-4 by executing in all areas, secured their third ACC series victory of the season.
"We played a complete game today," head coach Monte Lee said after the win. "Overall, it was great to win the series today."
Most of the offensive damage came from the middle of Clemson’s lineup, led by Kyle Wilkie’s three hits and three RBIs to almost outscore the Eagles by himself. Robert Jolly also went 3-for-4 on the evening and had an RBI in the first inning.
The Tigers are now 19-2 when they score at least three or more runs and took care of that in the 1st inning.
Three walks and a sacrifice fly loaded the bases in the 1st inning for Jolly, who hit a fielder’s choice to score the first run of the game. Drew Wharton, who batted in two runs, ripped a single two pitches later to score the second run.
But Wilkie’s 2-run single with two outs got Clemson all the momentum it needed to cruise to victory. The Tigers battled tough with two outs all night, batting 7-for-16 in that category.
"Whenever you can score first, I think it's huge in a baseball game," Wilkie said. "It just shifts the momentum. It just kind of relaxes you a little bit."
Clemson’s pitching staff had a solid outing all around and it started with starter Brooks Crawford. He did his job and lasted five innings, striking out five batters and gave up six hits.
One of those hits was a 2-run home run from Boston College’s Scott Braren that cut Clemson’s lead in half in the 4th inning. But Crawford didn’t falter and continued to deal until Ryan Miller came in to shut things down.
Miller only gave up four hits and the duo of pitchers combined to strike out ten batters and give up no walks.
"We did not walk a batter today. I thought both of our pitchers, Brooks and Ryan Miller, threw the ball exceptionally well," Lee said.
- Monte Lee
Seth Beer hit his ninth home run of the season in the 6th inning to give Clemson some more breathing room. This was his third home run of the week and it looks like he is out of whatever slump he was previously in.
Clemson scored two more runs with two outs in the 6th inning, one of them thanks to two errors on one play from Boston College shortstop Jake Palomaki. Then, it was Wilkie who iced the game with a single up the middle, his third RBI of the day, to give Clemson a comfortable 7-2 lead.
The Tigers weren't done there and added two more runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Wharton hit a sacrifice fly followed by Chris Williams scoring from third after a passed ball with two outs.
The Eagles got those two runs back in the 9th inning after another 2-run home run, but there would be no magical comeback.
Clemson is now 5-1 since getting swept by North Carolina State and losing to Coastal Carolina in walk-off fashion on the road. Lee challenged the toughness of his team after the four tough outcomes and said after Friday's game against Boston College that the losing streak is in the rearview mirror.
"We've moved on from that," Lee said. "Like any team, we are going to go through spurts where we are not playing our best baseball.
"We are swinging the bats well, we're pitching well, and hopefully we can continue to play good baseball on all fronts. It's always great to get a series win in game two and hopefully, our guys will stay focused and understand that tomorrow is a big day, too. Not just to come show up and play a game, let's be ready to play because every one of these ACC games counts."
The Tigers are now 20-6 and look to sweep the Eagles on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM.