Clemson baseball drops series, falls to 5-6 on the season

A four game week for Clemson baseball got off on the wrong foot on Tuesday as USC Upstate rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Tigers 6-3 at Fluor Field in Greenville.

Will Taylor led off the second inning with a monstrous home run over the wall in left field and the Tigers tallied 12 hits, but were unable to capitalize in the loss.

Clemson ended their 4 game losing streak, beating rival South Carolina 5-2 in a rain delayed game on Friday, behind solid pitching from the trio of Austin Gordon, Jackson Lindley and Casey Tallent.

Cooper Ingle led off the game with a home run on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first. and Gavin Abrams electrified the crowd with a bomb to right as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth.

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the second game of the series on Saturday, leading 3-0 and 7-3, but the bullpen was unable to hold the powerful Gamecocks line up down and the Tigers fell 11-9 despite pounding out 12 hits against South Carolina pitching.

With Sunday’s scheduled starting pitcher Caden Grice ejected late in Saturday’s game, the Tigers were forced to a committee approach and the results were as expected.

Billy Barlow started and gave up 2 runs in two innings, before Ty Olenchuk was hit hard over his two innings, giving up 2 home runs and several long fly balls that just missed.

After the first four innings the Clemson offense was almost non-existent and the Tigers finished the day with only 6 hits.

While the offense showed fight through the first 22 innings of the series, it’s become clear that pitching will be an issue throughout the season.

Clemson baseball will have a 5 game week after losing the series to South Carolina

To that end, the Tigers face a 5 game week, facing East Tennessee State on Tuesday and Presbyterian on Wednesday, before hosting Georgia State for a three game set next weekend.

All 5 games are scheduled for Doug Kingsmore Stadium.