Clemson Baseball has Wright stuff in opener

Blake Wright picked up right where he left off in 2022 and Ryan Ammons looked like a quality starter as Clemson Baseball walloped Binghamton 11-3 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the 2023 opener.

Wright went 4-4 with 3 runs scored and homered in his first two at-bats, totaling 3 RBI to lead Clemson.

The only other Tiger with more than 1 hit was Caden Grice who occupied the leadoff spot in somewhat of a surprise move for the 6’6, 250-pound junior.

Ryan Ammons (1-0) was on point on the mound despite throwing first-pitch balls to 5 of the first 6 batters he faced and gave up 3 hits (only one of which was solid) and 1 run while striking out 9 and walking 0 in 5 innings of work.

Clemson was a mix of old and new, with a splash of transfer in between, starting 3 freshmen and 1 new transfer on opening day, some of that due to injury.

The Tigers ran at will, stealing 11 bases in 11 attempts on the day after stealing 32 bases all of last season.

The competition wasn’t elite, but the Tigers were solid in fundamentals most of the day, committing 0 errors, taking bases when the opportunities presented themselves and putting the ball in play.

Binghamton had only had 3 practices outside all spring and it showed as the Bearcats committed 5 errors and allowed 3 unearned runs on the day.

Freshmen Cam Cannarella, Jack Crighton and Jacob Jarrell were all in the starting lineup and all contributed, going a combined 3 for 10 with 4 runs scored and 4 RBI, including a home run by Jarrell.

Ammons threw 49 strikes on 72 pitches (68%) and struck out half of the 18 batters he faced on the day.

Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. with right hander Austin Gordon on the mound for Clemson and Gabe Driscoll on the hill for Binghamton.

The game is available on the ACCNX and on the Clemson Athletic Network.