All Tigers in Athens!
Eric Bakich and his Clemson Tigers earned a big win over Georgia Tuesday evening, beating the Bulldogs by a final score of 8-1.
In my preview of this game, I wrote that these two teams looked very evenly matched coming in. Many fans-myself included-expected this matchup to go down to the wire, and perhaps be decided by a single swing or pitch.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to be wrong.
Clemson dominated this game, and the score reflected it. The Tigers pitched better, hit better, worked better at bats, were more aggressive at the plate, played better defense…
The Tigers were the better team tonight. The players, the coaching staff, and Clemson fans should be very proud of this win.
Breakdown
Through the first few innings, Georgia seemed poised to keep pace with the Tigers. UGA starter Luke Wagner looked good in the early goings, allowing only 2 Tigers to reach through the first three innings. The Dogs even took an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd by way of a Conner Tate double, promptly chasing Clemson starter Rocco Reid from the game after only 2.2 innings.
It was not long, however, before Clemson’s aggressive approach at the plate began to pay dividends.
After retiring the first two batters faced in the 4th, Wagner gave up a 2-out single to Blake Wright. Following a five-pitch walk to Bertram, Wagner left a fastball center cut, and Amick didn’t miss it.
No. Doubter. 👀 💣@billyamick pic.twitter.com/xsnqr9w14d
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) April 12, 2023
The 403 ft. homer gave Clemson a 3-1 lead. Though it would’ve been all they’d need to pull off the win, the Tigers did not slow down from there.
After replacing Wagner at the start of the 5th, Georgia reliever Zach DeVito allowed a lead-off double to Blackwell. An out later, Ingle would work a base on balls. Taylor then ripped a double to right, scoring Blackwell and advancing Ingle to third.
With first base open, the Bulldogs opted to intentionally walk Caden Grice (and who could blame them, honestly?).
In the next exchange, however, Blake Wright fouled off 6 pitches in a 12 pitch at-bat to work a walk, forcing home Ingle and plating the Tiger’s 5th run of the game.
A Bertram sac-fly would then allow Taylor to tag and score the Tiger’s 6th run. After, Amick would double to right field, earning his 4th RBI of the game. Grice, however, would be thrown out in a bang-bang play at home plate, ending the Tiger’s biggest inning of the night.
Nonetheless, the Tigers enjoyed a 6 run lead heading into the later innings.
Clemson’s bullpen played arguably their best ball of the season. In 6.1 innings of relief, the bullpen combined for 0 runs and only two hits. Most importantly, they did not give up a single base on balls, an aspect that has raised concern for this pitching staff in 2023.
Instead, they dominated the Bulldog’s lineup, allowing only 4 of the last 23 batters they faced to reach base.
The Tigers would scratch a final run across in the 8th by way of a fielder’s choice, though the game was over long before then.
This match proved to be the team’s most complete showing of the year. The Tigers are suddenly 4-1 in their last five games, and playing their best baseball of the season.
POTG: Billy Amick; 4 RBI, 2 Runs, 3-4, 2 Doubles, 1 BB
Honorable Mention: Clemson’s Bullpen; 6.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 12 K, 0 BB
Coach Bakich sums up the 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 night at Georgia. 💯 🐾 pic.twitter.com/j523JZeAuR
— Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) April 12, 2023
Takeaways
It’s always good to see the Tigers get a win. But some wins seem to mean more than others.
Tuesday’s win meant a lot for this ball club. As I mentioned in my Florida State series preview, one of the predominant issues with this Clemson team has been their inconsistency. Throughout this season, the team’s quality of play has varied drastically from game to game.
Tonight, however, all the pieces seemed to fall into place. The Tigers were getting base knocks up and down the lineup. The bottom of the order was feeding the top, and the top was driving runs in.
Clemson has found offensive success in this aggressive approach at the plate. Being aggressive does not always mean swinging early in counts, though the Tigers accrued quite a few hits from first pitch hacks. Contrarily, it means taking an unrelenting approach to your at-bats. It means not expanding your strike zone to hack at bad pitches, but barreling good pitches when you see them.
The result for the Tigers is clear: 8 runs on 9 hits, 5 walks and (most importantly) only 4 strikeouts. If Clemson’s offense can reproduce this approach moving forward, they will become a very difficult team to beat.
On a similar note, what could have been a back-and-forth slugfest became a one sided blowout due to a phenomenal showing from Clemson’s bullpen. In fact, the pitching has not looked this dominant against a quality opponent all season. For a team that averaged roughly 8 runs a game coming into this contest, the Tigers did well to keep Georgia hitters guessing, allowing only two singles in the final 6.1 innings.
After their dominant display against Georgia, the Tiger’s postseason hopes begin to look a bit more realistic. With the Coastal blowout a week prior, the series win over Florida State, and now a dominant performance in Athens, these Tigers are beginning to hit their stride.
But what will ultimately determine Clemson’s postseason fate is whether or not they can maintain this level of play against better competition. The Tiger’s next matchup may help fans answer that question.
The Tigers will return to Doug Kingsmore stadium on Friday, April 14th, to kick off an ACC series against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Check back in for a preview of that matchup as we get closer to first pitch!